RISHI Sunak has said it is “completely reasonable” to consider blocking new gender legislation in Scotland.
While visiting a homeless shelter in London, the Prime Minister defended comments made by Scottish Secretary Alister Jack who said the UK Government will "look closely" at the implications of the Gender Recognition Reform Bill passed in Holyrood on Thursday.
He said: “Lots of people have got concerns about this new bill in Scotland, about the impact it will have on women’s and children’s safety.
“So I think it is completely reasonable for the UK Government to have a look at it, understand what the consequences are for women and children’s safety in the rest of the UK, and then decide on what the appropriate course of action is.”
The GRR bill was passed overwhelmingly by MSPs and will make it easier for trans people to obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).
Ahead of the stage three debates taking place on Thursday, UK equalities minister Kemi Badenoch and Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison held a virtual meeting.
Badenoch said after it passed the UK Government was “now looking at provisions that can prompt reconsideration” of the legislation.
The Scottish Government has said it will "vigorously" contest any attempts by the UK Government to block the bill.
The Scottish Greens said any attempt to block the bill would represent an attack on devolution.
Opponents of the legislation fear it will impact on the Equality Act, particularly in relation to the exemption which allows for trans people to be excluded from single-sex spaces in some circumstances.
The bill, the Scottish Government says, will have no impact on the exemptions.
The legislation prompted MSPs across the chamber to vote against their party, with nine SNP MSPs – including former minister Ash Regan – defying the party whip. Labour’s Carol Mochan and Claire Baker did the same, and resigned from their frontbench positions.
Former Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw joined Jamie Greene in voting in favour of the bill, but the party had declared a free vote on the issue.
The bill will remove the requirement for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria when applying for a GRC.
It also lowers the minimum age for applicants to 16 and drops the time required for an applicant to live in their acquired gender from two years to three months – six for those aged 16 and 17 – though with a three-month reflection period.
Dunja Mijatovic, the commissioner for human rights at the Council of Europe, welcomed the passage of the Bill. “I welcome Scotland’s new law adopted by the Scottish Parliament introducing legal gender recognition based on self-determination,” she said.
“Nine Council of Europe member states have already adopted such laws and several others have this under consideration.
“A key trend for the full realisation of trans people’s human rights.”
