Swinney urged to ‘end era of divisive gender politics'
The leader of the Scottish Conservatives has urged the First Minister to 'end the era of divisive gender politics' in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling last week.
The UK's highest court ruled the definition of a woman in the 2010 Equality Act is based on biology, ending a long-running court battle brought by campaign group For Women Scotland, which had initially challenged Scottish Government legislation around gender representation on public boards.
The ruling is expected to have far-reaching consequences, particularly around the access of transgender people to single-sex spaces and services.
At Holyrood on Thursday, Tory leader Russell Findlay pushed John Swinney on the issue, drawing a parallel to the First Minister and his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon.
'John Swinney has got a chance to be his own man and go a different way from his closest ally, who isn't even showing up for work anymore,' Mr Russell said during First Minister's Questions.
'He can guarantee all public bodies will have new and lawful policies to respect women's rights in place by summer.
'He can admit that trans women are not women.
'He could hold his hands up and apologise fully and sincerely.
'John Swinney could ditch Nicola Sturgeon's toxic legacy once and for all.
'Will he now take the chance to finally bring to an end the era of divisive gender politics.'
The First Minister has largely tried to stay away from the issue of gender since taking over as SNP leader last year, and in the past week has stressed his Government accepts the ruling of the court.
Responding to Mr Findlay, Mr Swinney pointed to a statement made in Holyrood by former Tory MSP Alison Harris – speaking in place of fellow and current MSP Annie Wells – during the debate on the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Bill in January 2018.
According to Holyrood's official report, Ms Wells was said to be 'pleased' by a Labour amendment to the legislation which would 'broaden the definition of 'woman' so the legislation would be as inclusive as possible, recognising that not all trans women possess a gender recognition certificate'.
Nicola Sturgeon's radical gender ideology has damaged trust in politics.
It proved that Holyrood had lost the plot.
Will John Swinney ditch her toxic legacy? pic.twitter.com/UeLcKZTjPW
— Scottish Conservatives (@ScotTories) April 24, 2025
The First Minister said: 'I'm simply reading that into the official report, because the Conservatives have changed their position on this, and they have changed their position from what they said in 2018.
'What my Government will do is what it always does, follow the rule of law, take careful account of the decisions and the context in which we take our decisions, and act wisely to protect the rights of all within Scotland.
'The first duty of the Government is to protect the rights of everyone in Scottish society.'
Earlier in the session, Mr Findlay focused specifically on prisons, urging the First Minister to instruct the Scottish Prison Service to send all trans women in the female estate to men's jails.
Mr Swinney said: 'As the Government has set out to Parliament already, we are considering the details of the Supreme Court judgment, taking the necessary advice from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission about the application of that advice, and that will have a bearing on the judgments that are made in relation to public services and I would expect… all public bodies to operate on that basis and within the law.'
Earlier this week, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville told MSPs the Government will issue new guidance to service providers in line with the judgment, but she was unable to provide a timescale.
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