Latest news with #AshRegan
Daily Record
4 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Record
Swinney's government should take 'immediate action' protecting women's rights, says Ash Regan
Alba MSP Ash Regan told the Sunday Mail it was time for the Scottish Government to stop hiding behind 'faux legal ambiguity' on single sex spaces. Ash Regan has demanded John Swinney's government stops hiding behind 'faux legal ambiguity' and enforce the law on women's rights to single sex spaces. The Alba MSP has accused ministers of being too cowardly to uphold their own law to protect women's rights and demanded the government take 'immediate action' or step aside. Her comments come amid an employment tribunal brought by nurse Sandie Peggie, who was suspended after complaining about having to share a changing room with transgender medic Dr Beth Upton, in 2023. First Minister John Swinney has previously said he has "confidence" in NHS Fife. However he faces growing pressure to intervene as legal costs spiral - including from his own MSPs Michelle Thomson and Annabelle Ewing, who have condemned the handling of the landmark case for which the taxpayer will pick up most of the bill. Regan has now demanded that Swinney show leadership by upholding the law which is clear and non-negotiable. She said: 'The law does not lack clarity; what we lack is courage in Government and a leadership that sets a clear tone for lawful, evidence-based policy across public life. 'While ministers hide behind faux legal ambiguity, women across Scotland are forced to share prisons, changing rooms, hospital wards, and crisis services with biological males, for some in deeply traumatic circumstances, all because ministers are too cowardly to apply the law they swore to uphold. 'The law is not negotiable and the Scottish Government could end this embarrassing, costly charade today by implementing the actual law into its public sector guidance.' In April, the Supreme Court ruled that a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities law. Interim guidance was published by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission following the ruling which said trans women 'should not be permitted to use the women's facilities' in workplaces or public-facing services. Regan said it was vital to uphold the law for the safeguarding of women and girls. She said: 'Scotland once again finds itself forced to fight government and government-funded institutions to enforce the law that already exists. 'For Women Scotland, in their seven-year battle against the redefinition of women, confirmed what many of us have said all along: gender self-identification is not the law, nor has it ever been. 'The UK Supreme Court in April this year clarified that sex in the Equality Act 2010 is biological and a Gender Recognition Certificate is not a magic key to override sex-based protections. 'The Supreme Court and the EHRC have brought this charade to a decisive conclusion; these policies were never lawful. 'This is not a debate about identity, it is a question of legality, safety, and safeguarding, especially for women and girls.' Last week NHS Fife published a statement online to 'defend' itself and wanted to answer questions posed by the press and politicians, addressing 'misinformation' online. The health board also confirmed that as of June 30, legal costs have increased to £258,831, including £38,000 in just one month. NHS Fife is liable for only the first £25,000. Regan has branded the government's reluctance to deliver clear guidance as a legal, financial and reputational disaster. She said: 'The public purse is haemorrhaging legal costs in courts and tribunals, while housing, healthcare and poverty are in crisis - we must see immediate action and accountability. 'Women's rights are not optional; they are obligations. 'I will not stand by while the rights of many, for privacy, dignity, safety and fairness, are trampled to appease the demands of a few. 'The Government's dithering has become a legal, financial and reputational disaster. The election is coming. It's time to lead - or step aside.' Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Sandie was suspended from her job at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy in 2024 after she complained about having to share a changing room with Dr Upton. She was later placed on special leave after a complaint of bullying and harassment by Dr Upton, but was cleared by an NHS Fife investigation last week. Sandie launched a claim against Dr Upton and NHS Fife, citing the Equality Act 2010, including sexual harassment, harassment related to a protected belief, indirect discrimination and victimisation. In the four-page document, published online last week while evidence was being heard in the case, NHS Fife said police had to be called after staff faced threats of physical and sexual violence Scotland's information commissioner later criticised NHS Fife and said he may report the board to the Court of Session. Last week, it was reported that Sandie is taking legal action against her trade union, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), claiming it failed to support her after her suspension, which the union denies. The tribunal is expected to conclude at the end of July, with a decision made by the judge in the coming months.
The Herald Scotland
15-07-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Row over ScotGov failure to track jobs supported by public millions
The Scottish Government says it does not have data on the number of manufacturing jobs created in the past five years - which includes public investment made to bus maker Alexander Dennis - which is planning to move production to England endangering 400 Scottish jobs. And ministers are being further questioned about how the Scottish Government's Green Industrial Strategy, published in September 2024, contains no reference to bus manufacturing in Scotland. Last month, Alexander Dennis announced it was considering relocating production from its Larbert and Camelon sites near Falkirk to Scarborough in North Yorkshire, citing cost-cutting reasons. Union representatives have said the move could endanger approximately 400 Scottish jobs. This news follows the loss of more than 400 jobs just a few miles away in Grangemouth, where the local oil refinery recently closed and was converted into an import terminal. READ MORE from Martin Williams: Swinney got year-long warning England-bound bus firm was 'reconsidering' Scotland FM in funding row as £90m public cash for Scots jobs given to firm going to England Union says 1600 Scots jobs at risk if government doesn't act in 'national interest' The Herald revealed that nearly £90m of public money gone to Alexander Dennis to support Scottish jobs over ten years before it embarked on plan to move operations to England. According to Scottish Government records, ADL received £58m of public 'subsidy' for green vehicles since 2020 under two schemes aimed at transitioning Scotland to green buses - despite the company having embarked on a 2020 plan to axe a third of its Scottish workforce. And some £30m of jobs grants for research and development over 10 years has come from the Scottish Government's economic development agency Scottish Enterprise. Some £11.2m of those jobs grants from Scottish Enterprise came in 2023, three years after concerns were raised over ADL embarking on major job cuts in 2020. A bus on the Alexander Dennis pipeline in Falkirk By the time the 2020 jobs cut was in place ADL had already received over £8m in 'job securing' taxpayer funding which was promoted as supporting building a new greener business in Scotland. Former community safety minister Ash Regan who has been quizzing ministers about the number of manufacturing jobs created as a result of public and private investment - was told that neither the Scottish Government or Scottish Enterprise held the information. She was told in as response that details on analysis on how Scotland has performed in terms of attracting investment in key sectors was available from an survey carried out by consultants EY. Alba's Edinburgh Eastern MSP said: 'The Scottish Government should be tracking investment across the country so that we can ensure that we are committing the right resources to where they are needed most to maximise benefit for Scotland. Their failure to do so leaves inward investors and SMEs with a postcode lottery to secure the support of the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise. 'A national effort is needed to reverse the manufacturing decline of the past decades and ensure that every community in Scotland gets the right investment to create opportunities, ensuring that good jobs are on the doorstep of all Scots." Last week, Fife-based bus manufacturer has made 81 employees redundant after it entered administration. Workers at Greenfold Systems Ltd in Dunfermline were previously put on notice of potential job losses as a knock-on effect of bus company Alexander Dennis planning to pull out of Scotland. Around half the staff on site were working on parts for the Larbert-based company. And analysis from the Robert Gordon University last month has warned that the oil and gas industry could lose up to 400 jobs every two weeks for the next five years unless action is taken. It says that the UK risks losing tens of thousands of offshore energy jobs by 2030 unless urgent and coordinated action is taken immediately. It is estimated that 43% of the UK's oil and gas jobs are in Scotland. Ash Regan (Image: PA) Ms Regan added: "It seems that there isn't a week that goes by without another blow to Scotland's manufacturing capacity. Whether it's the closure of our only refinery, bus manufacturers or a scale back of the oil and gas industry. Scotland desperately needs an industrial strategy to create and sustain high quality jobs for today and build the skillsets and infrastructure for the emergent industries of tomorrow. 'Inward investment is key to keeping and creating quality jobs in Scotland, by securing our remaining industries. Yet, inward investment alone cannot create and sustain Scotland as the economic powerhouse we should aspire to be. We must also invest in infrastructure for connectivity and support the boundless potential of Scotland's Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) - the economic backbone that drives profits back into Scotland. " The Scottish Government was accused of "strategic neglect" after the Herald revealed the extent of support Alexander Dennis has had - while the First Minister was warned last year that it was "reconsidering" its "entire investment" in Scotland. The SNP-led Scottish Government and the Labour-led UK Government agreed to establish a joint working group to discuss options to find a solution and avert job losses. They are looking at how far they 'can push' the UK 'state aid' rules set out in the Subsidy Control Act 2022 to create a support package to save the 400 jobs. Alexander Dennis have said that they are engaging with both governments "in good faith ". Unions have previously warned that "time is running out" on the company before a request for an extension on consultation over jobs to August 15 was granted, while the Scottish Parliament is in recess until August 31. Meanwhile, Colin Smyth, convener of the Scottish Parliament's economy committee has asked the finance secretary Shona Robison, what the Scottish Government's view is on maintaining domestic manufacturing capacity in the bus sector. It came as the Green Industrial Strategy failed to reference bus manufacturing He told her: "Given the strategic importance of Alexander Dennis, the high quality of its workforce and the role of manufacturing in Scotland's future economy, it is vital that every possible action is taken to retain manufacturing, and the jobs it provides." He added: Ministers must act with urgency and ambition to help keep these jobs and avoid a world-class manufacturer shutting its doors in Scotland." Deputy first minister Kate Forbes said:'Scotland has a high value, high quality manufacturing sector that supports 178,000 jobs across the country and accounts for more than half of Scotland's international exports. In 2023 it contributed £18.1 billion in GVA to Scotland's economy. 'Significant strategic work takes place across the public sector to achieve this investment in our manufacturing base: Scottish Enterprise helped create or safeguard nearly 5,000 manufacturing jobs in 2024-25. The latest EY Annual Attractiveness Survey results meanwhile show that Scotland secured its largest share of manufacturing inward investment coming into the UK in 2024 – securing more than a fifth all UK projects. 'Scottish Development International, the international division representing all three enterprise agencies, ensures inward investment is made in the best location with the appropriate support package to establish new business, jobs and opportunities in the country.' The Scottish Government said that Ms Regan did not specifically request data relating to the number of manufacturing jobs in Scotland created through public money. But it has been argued that publicly funded investment was cleared implied by the question.
Telegraph
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Under-18s could be banned from marrying in Scotland
Under-18s could be banned from tying the knot in Scotland following efforts by an MSP to tackle the 'hidden crime' of child marriage. Siobhian Brown, the community safety minister, confirmed plans to consult on raising the legal age for marriages and civil partnerships from 16 to 18. Ministers will also consult on whether to legislate to extend the forced marriage or forced civil partnership offence, so any conduct with the intention of causing a person under 18 to marry or enter a civil partnership would be a criminal offence. The formal consultation on the new legislation was confirmed in a written answer to Ash Regan, an Alba MSP who is a vocal campaigner for increasing the marriage age. Campaigners such as Barnardo's have long argued that allowing under-18s to tie the knot contributes to sexual violence and domestic abuse. Unicef – the United Nations agency providing humanitarian and development aid to children worldwide – defines any formal marriage or informal union between a child under the age of 18 and an adult or other child as 'child marriage'. The UN agency describes marriage before the age of 18 as a 'fundamental violation of human rights'. Ms Regan said: 'Child marriage is a hidden crime, but I am concerned that it is very much a live issue in Scotland and across the UK. 'In Scotland, the legal age is 16 and no parental consent is needed. Campaigners have previously highlighted that this leaves girls vulnerable to grooming and coercion. 'I want to see new safeguards to prevent coerced marriages for under-18s, to protect their childhoods and their life chances.' The move would bring Scotland into line with England and Wales, where the age of consent to marry was raised to 18 in 2023. However, legal experts have previously warned that raising the legal marriage age in Scotland could be more difficult than it was south of the border, as Scots law considers 16- and 17-year-olds to be adults. Data from the National Records of Scotland showed 38 men and 78 women aged 16-19 got married in 2023, compared with 5,156 men and 11,963 women in 1974. 'Marriage by declaration' Scotland and England have had different rules on marriage for centuries. In the 18th century, an English law stopped couples under 21 marrying without their parents' permission. But in Scotland it was permitted for girls from the age of 12, and for boys aged 14 or older. Anyone in Scotland could also marry a couple by 'declaration'. Teenage lovers in England would elope to Scotland and Gretna, two miles over the border, became known as a marriage location. Couples could get married on the spot at Gretna Green in a simple ceremony. In 1940, the institution of 'marriage by declaration' was outlawed in Scotland and, in 1977, English couples were allowed to get married without parental consent at 18. The minimum age for marriage now in England and Wales is 18. Previously, 16- and 17-year-olds were allowed to get married or enter a civil partnership with parental consent, but this was dropped in 2023. Those under 18 in England and Wales can still get married in Scotland but, unlike in the past, the marriage would not be recognised south of the border.
BBC News
09-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Scottish government to look at raising the minimum age for marriage to 18
A consultation is to be held on raising the minimum age for marriage and civil partnerships in Scotland to laws currently allow those aged 16 and 17 to tie the knot without parental consent. The Scottish government will now look at increasing the age of consent to marry to 18, which is the legal position in England and will also consider extending the current forced marriage legislation to include making it a criminal offence to force a person under 18 to marry. The formal consultation on the new legislation was confirmed in a written answer to Alba MSP Ash Regan, who is a vocal campaigner for increasing the marriage - the United Nations agency providing humanitarian and development aid to children worldwide - defines any formal marriage or informal union between a child under the age of 18 and an adult or other child as "child marriage". The UN agency describes marriage before the age of 18 as a "fundamental violation of human rights".Ash Regan said: "Child marriage is a hidden crime, but I am concerned that it is very much a live issue in Scotland and across the UK."In Scotland, the legal age is 16 and no parental consent is needed. "Campaigners have previously highlighted that this leaves girls vulnerable to grooming and coercion."I want to see new safeguards to prevent coerced marriages for under-18s, to protect their childhoods and their life chances."Data from the National Records of Scotland showed 38 men and 78 women aged 16-19 got married in 2023, compared to 5,156 and 11,963 in 1974, respectively. Eloping to Scotland Scotland and England have had different rules on marriage for the 18th century an English law stopped couples under 21 marrying without their parents' in Scotland it was permitted for girls from the age of 12, and for boys aged 14 or in Scotland could also marry a couple by "declaration".Teenage lovers in England would elope to Scotland and Gretna, just two miles over the border, became known as a marriage location. Couples could get married on the spot at Gretna Green in a simple ceremony. In 1940 the institution of "marriage by declaration" was outlawed in Scotland and in 1977 English couples were allowed to get married without parental consent at minimum age for marriage now in England and Wales is 18. Previously 16- and 17-year-olds were allowed to get married or enter a civil partnership with parental consent, but this was dropped in under 18 in England and Wales can still get married in Scotland but, unlike in the past, the marriage would not be recognised south of the border.
Scottish Sun
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Scottish Sun
Legal age you can get married in Scotland could change – here's why
The Government will consider raising limit amid claims by campaigners that freedom to marry at 16 leaves girls vulnerable to grooming and coercion ALTAR-ING LAW Legal age you can get married in Scotland could change – here's why The Scottish government has now confirmed it will consult on raising the age of marriage and civil partnership from 16 to 18 - bringing it in line with England and Wales. Marriage laws in Scotland allow those aged 16-17 to marry without parental consent. 3 The Scottish Government intend to consult on raising the age of marriage and civil partnership from 16 to 18 - bringing it in line with England and Wales. Credit: Getty 3 Current laws north of the border allow those aged 16-17 to marry without parental consent. Credit: Alamy 3 Campaigners say freedom to marry at 16 leaves girls vulnerable to grooming and coercion Credit: Alamy The proposed consideration follows a 2023 law change south of the border, where the UK Conservative government increased the minimum age to 18. Previously 16 and 17-year-olds could marry with parental consent. For centuries, the legal differences between Scotland and England drew couples to Gretna, just a few miles north of the border, to defy their parents and tie the knot. In the 18th century, when English law forbade marriage under 21 without parental permission, Scotland permitted boys of 14 and girls of 12 to wed. The formal consultation on the new legislation was confirmed in a written answer to Ash Regan, an Alba MSP and a vocal campaigner for increasing the marriage age. Ministers will also consider making any attempt to cause a person under 18 to marry a criminal offence. Unicef - the United Nations agency providing humanitarian and development aid to children worldwide - defines child marriage as 'any formal marriage or informal union between a child under the age of 18 and an adult or another child', therefore considers it a violation of human rights. Legal experts note that Scotland is an outlier in the developed world for allowing marriage from 16 without parental consent. Ash Regan said: 'Child marriage is a hidden crime, but I am concerned that it is very much a live issue in Scotland. 'In Scotland, the legal age is 16 and no parental consent is needed. "Campaigners have previously highlighted that this leaves girls vulnerable to grooming and coercion. Devastating floods hit New Mexico as houses swept away in deluge after Texas death toll climbs to 111 with 173 missing "I want to see new safeguards to prevent coerced marriages for under-18s, to protect their childhoods and their life chances.' Data from the National Records of Scotland shows a steep fall in teenage marriages. In 1974, there were 3,780 marriages where at least one partner was 16 or 17. By 2022, that number had dropped to just 18. Siobhian Brown, the Scottish government's community justice minister, said: 'As part of our considerations on the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership, we have engaged with a wide range of organisations and interested individuals in order to gather views and evidence.' The Scottish Conservatives said: 'We would urge SNP ministers to do the same given similar laws are already in place elsewhere in the UK.' Scottish Labour and the Greens have made no comment. Rob Clucas, a family law expert at Edinburgh Napier University, said: 'Forced marriage is a global evil that disproportionately affects young women in different-sex marriages, and it should be eradicated. 'Forced marriages do occur in Scotland, as does early marriage and civil partnership — though these phenomena are not identical, and it is not clear how harmful early marriage or civil partnership is in Scotland, it may sometimes be neutral or beneficial.' He added: 'Research is needed to establish this. If we take our young people's autonomy seriously — and we should, for 16 and 17-year-olds in Scotland are not children — we ought to be wary of infringing their rights, even temporarily.' A Scottish government spokesman said: 'While statistics show that marriages involving under-18s are rare in Scotland, as previously announced, we intend to consult on whether the minimum age of marriage and civil partnership should be raised from 16 to 18. 'The consultation, which will be published this autumn, will also consider extending the existing forced marriage offence to criminalise any attempt to cause a person under 18 to enter a marriage or civil partnership, regardless of whether coercion can be proven. 'This responds to a recommendation by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child that Scotland should prohibit marriages involving under-18s to protect young people.' Marriage laws vary across Europe - with countries including Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden not permitting marriage under 18, while others allow for exceptions with parental or public authority consent. In Estonia, the minimum age for marriage is 15.
