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Nicola Sturgeon says gender reform row will go to court

The row over Scotland’s gender reforms will “inevitably” end up in court, the country’s first minister has said.

Nicola Sturgeon was speaking as the UK government formally moved to block the legislation that was passed by the Scottish Parliament last month.

The reforms are intended to make it easier for trans people to change their legally-recognised sex.

But the UK government says the changes could impact on equality laws that apply across Great Britain.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack is to use a Section 35 order to prevent the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from gaining royal assent - the first time this has been done since the Scottish Parliament was created in 1999.

The Scottish secretary is able to block legislation passed by Holyrood if he believes it would have a detrimental impact on areas that are reserved to Westminster.

Mr Jack told the Commons the reforms would have an adverse impact on single sex clubs, associations and schools and protections such as equal pay.

And he said having different processes across the UK would create “significant complications” and could lead to “more fraudulent or bad faith applications”.

Ms Sturgeon told BBC political editor Chris Mason that Mr Jack was making a “profound mistake” and accused him of launching a “direct attack on the institution of the Scottish Parliament”.

She said it would “inevitably end up in court” and that the Scottish government would “vigorously defend this legislation”.

The first minister added: “In doing so we will be vigorously defending something else, and that is the institution of the Scottish Parliament and the ability of MSPs, democratically elected, to legislate in areas of our competence.

“In short, we’ll be defending Scottish democracy”.

Ms Sturgeon said the legislation would not automatically go to the Supreme Court, as would have happened if the UK government had used another section of the Scotland Act to challenge it.

So the Scottish government is instead likely to seek a judicial review of Mr Jack’s decision at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

The first minister also accused the UK government of attempting to stoke a “culture war” over the issue, and of being “increasingly hostile to the Scottish Parliament”.

Ms Sturgeon added: “This is not the first attack on the Scottish Parliament we’ve seen, but it is the most serious to date”.

Mr Jack said he was not making the Section 35 order lightly, and acknowledged it was a “significant decision”.

But he said the mechanism had been put in place by the architects of devolution for good reason, with Donald Dewar - Scotland’s inaugural first minister - describing it as a “sensible measure to ensure that devolved legislation does not have adverse impacts on reserved matters”.

Mr Jack added: “We should be clear that this is absolutely not about the UK government being able to veto Scottish Parliament legislation whenever it chooses as some have implied.

“The power can only be exercised on specific grounds and the fact that this is the first time it has been necessary to exercise the power in almost 25 years of devolution emphasises that is not a power to be used lightly”.

The UK government has published a full statement of reasons alongside the order which it says sets out in full the adverse effects it is concerned about.

Mark Drakeford, the Welsh first minister, condemned the UK government’s move as a “very dangerous precedent” for devolution.

Mr Drakeford has said he would like to introduce similar gender recognition reforms to Scotland, but the Senedd does not have the powers to pass such legislation.

We might have grown used to seeing devolution disputes between the Scottish and UK governments play out at the Supreme Court in London - like the recent row over Holyrood’s power to set up an independence referendum.

But this one will at least start in Edinburgh, at the Court of Session - and it will be a completely different sort of debate.

This is not about whether or not MSPs were right to legislate on gender reform; it’s broadly accepted that they were acting within Holyrood’s powers.

Opponents of the reforms are concerned about their potential impact on legal protections for women

Rather, the question is whether the reforms they have made would have broader consequences which could affect how UK-wide legislation works. The Scotland Act sets out very specific tests which allow the UK government to veto a Holyrood bill. They must show that it would “make modifications of the law as it applies to reserved matters” - in this case the 2010 Equality Act - and that they had “reasonable grounds” to believe it would have an “adverse effect” on the operation of that law. For all of the political rhetoric flying around, those are the detailed legal points on which this bill will stand or fall. Earlier on Tuesday, the UK government’s education secretary denied being at odds with the prime minister over gender recognition policy after appearing to suggest 16-year-olds are old enough to change their legal sex.

Gillian Keegan appeared to quickly row back on remarks - made as she toured broadcast studios on Tuesday - in which she seemed to indicate that young people could be mature enough at 16 to make the decision.

The lowering of the age from 18 to 16 has been one of the most controversial aspects of the Scottish reforms, with both Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Keir Starmer saying they have concerns about it.

When asked by Sky News on whether she thought 16 was too young, Ms Keegan replied: “No I don’t actually. I was working at 16, I was paying tax at 16, I was making decisions for myself at 16.”

In a subsequent interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain, she said she does not have a “strong opinion” and was referring to the fact she “felt able to take decisions for myself at 16”.

Scottish Labour backed the lowering of the minimum age, with the party’s MSP Monica Lennon criticising Mr Starmer’s concerns as “unhelpful and ill informed”, adding: “I don’t think Keir Starmer can comment with the same insight as us.

“He didn’t sit in the committee, he didn’t sit in our chamber, he didn’t have a vote and he didn’t follow the evidence like we did.”

What are the gender reforms?

The Gender Recognition Bill was passed by 86 votes to 39 in the Scottish Parliament last month, and is intended to streamline the process in Scotland for changing someone’s legally recognised sex.

The reforms have been highly controversial, with several SNP backbenchers voting against the bill and Ash Regan quitting as community safety minister in protest.

The bill would lower the age that people can apply for a gender recognition certificate (GRC) - a

UK weather: Snow and ice causes travel chaos and shuts schools

Parts of the UK have been hit by snow and ice, with warnings from police in some areas to only travel if “absolutely essential”.

Yellow alerts for snow and ice are in place across large areas of all four nations and an amber alert for snow has been issued for northern Scotland.

In Somerset, a double-decker bus with 70 people on board overturned in icy conditions, injuring dozens.

Overnight temperatures dropped as low as -9.8C and some schools have shut.

BBC forecaster Nick Miller said: “Widespread cold has returned to the UK with lows of -7 to -10C across the four home nations last night.”

Northern Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of north-west England and Wales are likely to see further snow, he said.

Conditions in the Highlands were expected to “deteriorate”, he said, and travel disruption was likely.

“Temperatures across much of the UK will only rise a degree or so above freezing today with another widespread frost tonight”, he added.

An amber alert for snow is in place for parts of north and north-east Scotland until midnight meaning travel disruption is expected and rural communities are likely to become cut off.

A yellow alert for snow and ice across parts of the UK until midday on Wednesday means travel delays are likely and icy conditions which could lead to slips and falls.

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Temperatures dropped to -9.8C in Topcliffe, North Yorkshire, overnight and to -8C across Scotland and Northern Ireland on what was the coldest night of the year so far.

At Loch Glascarnoch in the Scottish Highlands, 32cm (12.5in) of snow fell on Tuesday morning, according to the Met Office.

It will remain cold for the rest of the week, but BBC forecasters say it will turn milder by the weekend.

Avon and Somerset Police warned drivers to “only travel if absolutely necessary” after the force said it received more than 100 reports in five hours due to “treacherous conditions”.

The A39 near Cannington is closed after a crash involving a motorcyclist resulted in a bus overturning.

Avon and Somerset Police said conditions were “extremely icy and dangerous” as a result of freezing overnight temperatures and residual water on the road from last week’s wet weather.

Over in the South East, Kent County Council highways manager Toby Howe warned of flooding issues on the roads after an “awful night” of heavy rainfall.

Cars overturned on icy roads in Wales on Tuesday

In Wales, icy conditions on the roads caused cars to overturn, with nine road incidents being reported but no serious injuries.

In Cornwall, more than 80 schools have been shut and some roads are blocked after heavy snow fell in parts of the county.

Devon and Cornwall Police tweeted, urging drivers to “travel with caution as heavy snow showers sweep through the region”.

Schools in Shetland have been closed for a second day and more than 200 have been shut in the Highlands.

The Met Office said a further 10 to 15cm of snow could fall in a short space of time across northern parts of Scotland.

There have been 19 road crashes across Londonderry and Strabane as snow and icy conditions came in overnight in Northern Ireland.

Source: BBC