Latest news with #EqualityActof2010
The National
31-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
We must protect what is at heart of Scottish NHS
It's really not just a debate about changing rooms, a notion in itself that has been suitably blown out of proportion in harmony with online anti-trans hysteria. It's frankly about the morals and values we allow to occupy the corridors of our fundamental institutions. I come from a big NHS family of nurses and I myself have worked in the NHS, I know the responsibility involved in the job. To care for people, from all different backgrounds and walks of life, at their most vulnerable times. The underpinning argument in this case, and the horrific slurs we have this week seen as forming part of the story, are a betrayal of that responsibility. I can't believe we're at a point in this discourse where it's even considered mildly controversial to say that. It's not. The anti-trans brigade have so much to answer for. To start with, a point the rational have made repeatedly but that will no doubt continue to fall on deliberately covered ears, trans women have had access to women's spaces since the Equality Act of 2010. It is not new, and it was not inviting of this much hysteria back then, nor was it for a good 10 years after it came to be. We're only seeing cases like this emerge now because views like these have been emboldened by anti-trans narratives that are direct cut-and-copy material from the days of section 28 – a time that we now reflect on with suitable shame, as we will this 'debate' in years to come. READ MORE: John Curtice weighs in on Corbyn-Sultana party threat to Keir Starmer's seat In fact, for more than 15 years, trans inclusion in single-sex spaces has been standard practice. Inclusive of hospital wards, changing rooms, toilets – the very spaces now thrust into the political hot seat. Inclusion reframed as a threat, in the most part to bolster right-wing politicians desperate for an opportunity to roll back the hard-won rights of minorities and, ironically, women. Politicians who have gleefully aided the manufacturing of what can only be described as a moral panic that seeks to scapegoat a vulnerable minority, so that they can hide from responsibility themselves. In the past decade, times have been tumultuous for the entire world. We've seen war in Europe, genocide in Palestine, a global pandemic and closer to home a crippling cost of living crisis and a disastrous Brexit process that has left everyone miserable and angry. A perfect storm for opportunists to save the day with a scapegoat, if a little unimaginative. Don't just take my word for it, it's plain for anyone to see from history. A tale as old as time. Instability breeds hatred because it feeds on the anger of everyday people who have every reason to be angry. It offers people who are struggling and afraid a place to channel that frustration, especially when there seems to be very little light at the end of the tunnel, which is exactly how Britain has felt for quite some time now. Whether it's immigrants being blamed for job shortages, refugees accused of burdening the public purse, or now trans people 'infiltrating' women's spaces to cause us harm, there's always someone for a certain political class to punch down on. It is a deliberate deflection from reality every single time. A cynical effort to divide at a time when society is vulnerable to that division. It's a grim pattern, but it is a familiar one and it is all of our shame that this particular instance has been allowed to fester to the extent that it has. It's contextually important to understand that cases like this one in NHS Fife are not disputes unfolding in isolation. Instead, they are part of a much larger and co-ordinated attempt to undermine long-standing protections for trans people. Which is the result of a rise in hatred – at a time of deep instability when minority rights serve as a wedge issue for the politically opportune. Are we getting it yet? These cynical dynamics don't stop at the doors of our hospitals or other public institutions – they seep into them. And in this case, its main achievement has been the erosion of trust in a service that is crucial to the Scotland we pride ourselves on being. NHS Scotland's core values are care and compassion, dignity and respect, openness, honesty and responsibility, and quality and teamwork. Everyone working for the NHS in any capacity knows that, they are the central point of everything [[NHS Scotland]] seeks to achieve and they make sure that you know it. They are not and cannot be kooky aspirational slogans, they are central to its duty as a public service. A service that is entrusted with often the darkest hours of a person's life. It is not controversial to say that those delivering care within that system must be held to the highest standard of those values both personally and professionally. Precisely nothing about this case is encompassing of what those values set out. If these narratives go unchallenged or worse even – celebrated – then the very foundations of our NHS and the concept of public healthcare in Scotland will erode. A concept, might I add, that Scotland has a world-renowned reputation for, something we have managed to preserve against the global tide for a long time. A reputation to be incredibly proud of and that we should seek to protect. (Image: Getty) What happens in this case matters far beyond the consequences for NHS Fife. It sets a precedent for how malleable our public institutions are to politically manufactured hatred. For whose dignity and respect can and will be deemed negotiable in these spaces. I'd argue that the NHS is not just our healthcare provider, it's the central hub of our public service and it should operate as a reflection of our collective values as a country. If those values mean anything at all, then now is the time to defend those they were designed to protect. Equality and compassion are not optional extras or appeasing soundbites, they are the bedrock of decent care and by extension, a decent society.
Scotsman
29-07-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
Readers' Letters: Trump's visit shows who the real King is these days
Donald Trump is showing European leaders who's boss, claims reader Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The visit by President Donald Trump has conveyed one important but overdue lesson and that is the emptiness of claims that the UK has significance in today's world. Instead, the true King of Kings rolls into one of his dominions, at our expense, to visit a new palace at Menie, and graciously agrees to meet minor dignitaries like Keir Starmer as long as they obey on issues such as the slaughter of children in Gaza, the demonisation of Iran and the doomed attempt to keep China in its box. Our Prime Minister, of course, bows the knee in pursuit of trading advantage. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In this he is not alone. The royal progress includes acts of obeisance from the EEC's Ursula von der Leyen and possibly our First Minister, though he at least may have something to say on Gaza so long as it does not affect the tariff on whisky. US President Donald Trump greets Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria at Trump Turnberry golf club yesterday (Picture:) James Scott, Edinburgh Change the signs Over the last 20 years, a new heterodoxy has prevailed. It has entered various part of society in all parts of the UK and the rest of the west as well. For example, guilt over sins of which we are entirely innocent, but of which some people's ancestors may have been guilty is aimed at the whole of society, and 'black lives matter' became so all-powerful that the English women's football team has apparently only just stopped 'taking the knee', which expressed atonement for the sins of American society, not ours! A new orthodoxy has found its way into 'new age' thinking and, along with other strands of thought – climate change, for example – became the new truths. Heaven help you if you disagreed, because 'the science is settled', even if science is never settled. If men decide that they are women, then they are women. Sixteen year-olds are adults, even when they can't buy cigarettes or alcohol, fight in wars or stand for Parliament, except when they aren't, when it suits the party that hopes to benefit by pretending that they are (no names, no pack-drill, Labour and SNP). Remember legal guardians to the age of 18? Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Now, Museums Galleries Scotland (your report, 28 July) claim that the Supreme Court ruling on sex and gender could mean that museums may have to close because trans people, may have 'no facilities at all'. Under the Equality Act of 2010, all such places are required by law to provide disabled lavatories. So, either they are breaking the law by not providing such lavatories, or they are not prepared to put the words 'disabled and gender-neutral/trans lavatory' on the door. Peter Hopkins, Edinburgh Injustice today Having published a hugely expensive report looking at slavery which took place hundreds of years ago against victims now long dead, Edinburgh University Principal Sir Peter Mathieson has pledged to take action, insisting that 'meaningful change' will occur and that the institution will 'learn from and repair its past'. Amid this apparent desire to appropriate the moral high ground, the University's deafening silence on current day human rights abuses, which it has complicitly supported lest it upset wealthy dictatorships, cannot go unmentioned. The University was quick to jump on the Black Lives Matter bandwagon in 2020, apologising for the death of George Floyd; it has, however, failed to condemn the Chinese government's genocidal campaign of ethnic cleansing against Uighur Muslims. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Nor did Sir Peter Mathieson issue a message of support for pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong, despite the many hundreds of Hong Kong students at Edinburgh. The University's acceptance of £16 million from a Saudi Arabian billionaire prince to fund Islamic studies, and the acceptance of cash from the Kremlin-backed Russkiy Mir Foundation to fund Edinburgh's Princess Dashkova Russian Centre simply confirms that for Edinburgh University its easier to virtue signal when referring to the past, rather than taking action in 2025 to support real human rights improvements. David Tan, Edinburgh Sum problems June's figures for public sector borrowing came in at £20.7 billion, well above the OBR's forecast and City expectations. What's more, £16.4bn of this was accounted for by debt interest payments. Yes, that's right: £16.4bn in one month. We are borrowing vast sums to pay the interest on past borrowings of vast sums. The time has come for a national referendum on government borrowing. Doug Clark, Currie, Midlothian Respect for all Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Following The Scotsman's recent reports about the Sandie Peggie case, it appears that the relevant staff in NHS Fife have very old-fashioned attitudes towards the medical profession, with the belief that a doctor's word is infallible. Sixty years ago, when I was training, the belief that a doctor could do no wrong was gradually being challenged and, as young nurses, we were taught to question anything we were unsure about. While fully respecting the skill, training and expertise by all members of the medical team we worked together for the greater good of the patients. We also understood that we were all human beings and as such were capable of errors of judgment, vanity, arrogance or even deceit, as qualifications do not ensure perfection. The people who automatically condemned Nurse Peggie have shown their disrespect towards her, her unblemished years of work and to the nursing profession when, without further investigation, they decided a doctor's word was paramount. NHS Fife should be ashamed of the way they have treated a valuable and long-standing member of their staff. Dr Upton claims to be female and claims discrimination due to gender recognition issues. There must be an area available for a separate changing facility to deal with these problems so that everyone can get on with the work they should be doing with mutual acceptance and respect. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It is very perturbing to learn that, in an effort to maintain political correctness, some of the professional witnesses in this debacle feel unsure of of the gender that they were born with. I can't help wondering – if there were special benefits given to all redheads would I qualify if I dyed my aging locks? J Main, Elgin, Moray Water history In his paean of praise of water in Scotland I am surprised Stan Grodynski (Letters, 28 July), with his reference to Enlightenment figures (who must have got hydrated using water-caddies and taken action whenever they heard the cry of gardyloo!) does not mention another piece of Scottish history, the mid-19th century building of an aqueduct and tunnels from Loch Katrine to Glasgow, and in particular, that it spared its residents from the 1866 cholera outbreak, which killed only 68. Some 5,596 died from it in London. Maybe his silence comes from the fact that before building it, Glasgow had taken advice from experts south of the Border, Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It should also be noted that microbiological safety did not drive its construction. Big reasons were meeting the needs of trade and increasing the number of street fire hydrants, needed to fight that good old Glasgow tradition: have an iconic building, burn it down. Hugh Pennington, Aberdeen Manx magic Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad On holiday in the Isle of Man last week, it was exhilarating to see that there was not a single ugly wind turbine blighting the spectacular landscape. Nor did we encounter any potholes anywhere on the excellent road network. At one time a Scottish possession, this thriving Crown Dependency has its own distinct identity and ancient parliament. The island's language (similar to Irish and Gàidhlig) is being revived and its official status raised. Surely our left-wing separatists, trapped in an endless cycle of bitterness and victimhood, might learn something from the Manx success story? Martin O'Gorman, Edinburgh State of play So the SNP want to jump on the French bandwagon and recognise the State of Palestine. So what is a State? It's a politically organised territory ruled by a centralised legal government. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Does that sound like Palestine? If the SNP want the best future for Palestine then you do not reward Hamas for the atrocities of October 7. The answer to such evil isn't the award of a State. A path to genuine peace relies on the expansion of the Abraham Accords, leading to a partnership between Arab States and Israel. This would lay the grounds for a future Palestinian State supported by its Arab neighbours. Lewis Finnie, Edinburgh It's a knockout The hilarity of the penalty shoot out at the Women's Euros, England v Sweden, covered by the BBC in Zurich, brought back happy memories of 'Jeux Sans Frontieres' to my generation. It also put to bed any notion that the women's game has now caught up with the men's game for quality. Yet more merriment was to come. ITV covered England v Italy in Geneva and, being oblivious and patronisingly ambivalent about the fact they were broadcasting to all four UK Nations, the commentary descended into utter ear-splitting incoherence as England got an unlikely equaliser. It was such a long way removed from the masterful restraint of the late Kenneth Wolstenholme ('there are people on the pitch' etc) Wembley 1966. John V Lloyd, Inverkeithing. Fife Write to The Scotsman
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Manchester City fans take legal action against club over season-ticket policy
Manchester City supporters have taken legal action against the club over what they describe as a discriminatory new season-ticket policy. The protest relates to a system that requires fans to attend at least 10 league matches if they are to retain their ticket for the following season. A group of fans known as the Trade Union Blues, whose members are union members, have engaged the law firm Leigh Day to ask the club to review the policy, arguing that the requirement 'potentially gives rise to claims under the Equality Act of 2010'. Advertisement Related: Beyond the apathy: the Manchester City and Chelsea fans off to the Club World Cup The secretary of Trade Union Blues, Chris Neville, said: 'This policy doesn't reward loyalty – it punishes people for being human. Illness, pregnancy, disability, caring responsibilities or working shifts [could] now cost you your season ticket. Many of our members have followed City through thick and thin and now face exclusion because of inflexible criteria that takes no account of individual circumstances.' The policy was announced by City last month, after season-ticket prices were frozen following consultation with the club's elected fan advisory board, City Matters. It increased the obligatory number of home league matches a season-ticket holder must attend from 14 to 16, but also mandated that only six of those games could be shared with friends or handed back to the club for resale. City believe that ticket utilisation is a growing issue for the club, having told City Matters in February that an average 8% of 37,000 season-ticket members do not attend a given Premier League game. Liverpool and Arsenal have mandatory attendance requirements for season-ticket holders, but neither cap the number of games that can be shared or resold. Arsenal exempt season-ticket holders with disabilities from the cap. Ryan Bradshaw, human rights partner at Leigh Day, said: 'The updated policy introduced by Manchester City applies a blanket requirement for personal attendance which significantly disadvantages a number of protected groups under the Equality Act. There is no indication that any meaningful mitigation procedures are in place. It disadvantages those working-class fans who are required to work shift patterns or precariously and may be unable to attend games for fear of losing their jobs.' City did not respond to a request for comment.
New York Times
01-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Explained: Why the English Football Association has barred transgender women from women's game
The English Football Association will no longer allow transgender women to play in women's football from June 1 after a significant change to its policy was confirmed this morning. The FA had already tightened its eligibility criteria for transgender women and non-binary players as recently as last month but a ruling in the UK's Supreme Court on April 16 has forced further change. That verdict, where the legal definition of a woman would be based on biological sex, has now led the FA to amend its own inclusion policy, with transgender women prohibited from playing women's football a month from today. The FA has had a transgender inclusion policy in place since 2015, in their words to help 'support the small number of transgender women who would like to play in the grassroots game, providing it can be done without sacrificing fair and safe competition.' The last decade has seen 72 transgender footballers take part in grassroots games, with the FA previously classifying transgender women as those who have undergone hormone therapy or had a gonadectomy 'with results in blood testosterone within natal female range.' Advertisement Each player was assessed on a case-by-case basis, with the FA retaining the ultimate discretion over their involvement. Hormone treatment would also be reviewed annually, typically at the start of each season. Changes to that policy were introduced on April 11, with stricter criteria outlining that reduced testosterone levels would need to be met. Levels had to be below 5nmol per litre over a 12-month period, as well as a 'match observation' process of each player wishing to be eligible. That would judge if the player presented a risk to 'the safety of competitors, and/or fair competition.' The FA said its previous policy on a 'complex subject' was 'supported by expert legal advice'. From June 1, a month from now, transgender women will not be allowed to continue playing in women's football. Only those born as biological females will be eligible across all levels. 'We understand that this will be difficult for people who simply want to play the game they love in the gender by which they identify, and we are contacting the registered transgender women currently playing to explain the changes and how they can continue to stay involved in the game,' the FA said in a statement. The FA's change sees them fall in line with other major sports in the UK. The Rugby Football Union, British Cycling and British Rowing had previously banned transgender athletes from competing under the Equality Act of 2010, which included sporting exemptions if one sex was placed at a physical 'disadvantage' against other competitors. England Netball also followed the FA's lead this morning by barring transgender athletes from competing. A change to their policy says 'the female category will be exclusively for players born female, irrespective of their gender identity.' As the FA made clear in today's statement, the Supreme Court's landmark ruling on April 16 has forced change across UK sport. That surrounded a far-reaching case brought by campaign group For Women Scotland (FWS), which challenged the Scottish government's assertion that sex-based protections in the Equality Act 2010 should include transgender people with a gender recognition certificate. Advertisement FWS, which began its legal battle as far back as 2018, asked the Supreme Court to define sex as an 'immutable biological state' and won the backing of five judges last month. It was their belief that only biological women met the legal definition of a woman. 'The unanimous decision of this court is that the terms woman and sex in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex,' Judge Lord Hodge told the court. 'But we counsel against reading this judgement as a triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another, it is not.' The implications of the ruling have promised to be wide-ranging. As well as transgender women no longer being able to sit on public boards in places reserved for women, it is expected to shape social policymaking on issues such as public changing rooms and women-only spaces. Football — and other sports — have now felt the impact. The FA said that a 'material change in law, science or the operation of the policy in grassroots football' would bring a review and the Supreme Court's verdict has led to the point where transgender women will no longer be eligible. The decision is thought to impact between 20 and 30 transgender players, all at the grassroots level of the English game. The reaction, inevitably, has been polarising. Fair Play for Women, the campaign group, welcomed the decision as a 'massive development' on X, while FWS said 'not before time' on the same platform. There are, though, others dismayed by the decision. Goal Diggers FC, a trans-inclusive grassroots team established in 2015, announced last month they had arranged a 12-mile sponsored walk from the club's training pitches in Haggerston to Wembley, to 'deliver a letter to the FA to urge them to rethink their transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming grassroots football policy.' The walk is scheduled to take place on Monday. Advertisement Before the FA's ruling, Natalie Washington, the lead organiser of the Football v Transphobia campaign and who has played grassroots football since 2017, told The Athletic that she feared trans people would be driven away from the sport in the wake of the Supreme Court judgment. 'It happens whenever there is a policy change like this, and it's already started to happen this week,' she said. 'My worry is that trans people will just decide sport is not for them and we will end up with a group of people who are less active, less fit and less happy.' Washington told told UK broadcaster ITV News today that she would almost certainly have to give up the sport after the FA's announcement. 'I'm in a semi-rural area, there are no inclusive teams, specific LGBT teams or anything like that, there is only the competitive men's game and the competitive women's game, and you can only play in one,' she said. 'And if I'm not eligible in one and I'm not safe in the other, then that is probably it for me in terms of playing.'
Economist
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Economist
Women win legal clarity—but Britain's gender wars intensify
IT WAS A landmark decision. On April 16th Britain's Supreme Court ruled that, for the purposes of the Equality Act of 2010, the country's main anti-discrimination law, 'man' refers to a biological man and 'woman' to a biological woman. The judgment ended years of legal uncertainty about such matters. Since sex is a protected characteristic under the act, it means a space or service that excludes men, such as a women's bathroom, can also exclude all transgender women (biological males). The next day, the British Transport Police announced it would now conduct strip searches on the basis of biological sex, rather than how a person identifies.
