Russell Findlay calls on John Swinney to apologise after Supreme Court ‘woman’ ruling

Russell Findlay has accused John Swinney of being “willing to trash women’s rights” and urged him to apologise following the Supreme Court's ruling on the definition of ‘woman’.

The Scottish Conservative leader said the Scottish Government must “abandon” its previous policies and “accept accountability and own its mistakes”.

The first minister said he accepted the judgment “unreservedly” and his government had started to consider its impact on public bodies.

He added the ruling did not reduce trans people's protections and said it was important to be “respectful, compassionate and caring”. 

The Supreme Court ruled last week that, for the purposes of the Equality Act, the terms 'woman', 'man' and 'sex' referred to biological sex, and possession of a gender recognition certificate does not allow a trans person to access single-sex spaces reserved for their certified sex.

Social justice secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville confirmed on Wednesday that fresh guidance would be delivered to public bodies after the Equality and Human Rights Commission had updated its own guidance. 

The matter was raised at first minister's questions on Thursday.

Findlay said “common sense has now prevailed”, adding: "Politicians have a duty to hold up their hands and admit their mistakes. So will John Swinney finally apologise to the women of Scotland?" 

He also raised concerns that trans women prisoners were still being housed in female prisons, and urged the FM to "finally bring to an end the era of divisive gender politics".

Swinney reiterated that his government accepted the ruling and would be revising guidance in response.

He said: "This government will take the steps… to make sure that all of the regulatory changes that are required to be made in light of the decision of the Supreme Court are made.”

Tory MSP Pam Gosal called for the government to issue that fresh guidance at speed. ““Public bodies need clarity. Every day of delay risks further uncertainty,” she said.

And SNP MSP Michelle Thomson said women’s voices must be at the heart of the new guidance. She highlighted concerns about internal policies within the civil service which had “not adhered to the public sector equality duty, with women’s networks allowing men to self-identify into membership”.

The first minister said the guidance would be “developed in a timely manner” to ensure the government is applying the public sector equality duty correctly.

Alba MSP Ash Regan raised the recent case in Borders Council, which saw the local authority ordered to provide single-sex toilets in schools.

The new Earlston primary school had recently opened with only gender neutral toilets, but the Court of Session ruled the council had a legal obligation to provide male and female facilities.

Regan said: “It exposes this broader pattern of public bodies disregarding the Equality Act 2010 and other regulations in place since 1967.

“The undue influence of activist lobby groups like LGBT Youth Scotland has led to policies breaching single-sex safeguards. All such policies must now be withdrawn. Will public funding finally be withdrawn from organisations that are wrongly advising that gender self-ID is lawful in Scotland when it never has been?”

The first minister said his government would consider issues that arise out of the Court of Session decision, adding the “rule of law must be the central consideration of the actions of government”.

Former Tory leader Douglas Ross asked: “Does the first minister believe that a trans women is a woman, yes or no?”

Swinney refused to answer the question directly, instead saying he accepted the court judgment that “a woman in the Equality Act 2010 is defined by biological sex”.