Scottish Government: Westminster should remove Section 35 block to gender reforms

The UK Government should end its veto and allow the Gender Recognition Reform (GRR) Bill to become law, the Scottish Government has said.

Blocking powers enshrined in Section 35 of the Scotland Act were used by UK ministers for the first time to prevent Holyrood ministers from introducing a system of self-identification for transgender people.

The package of reforms, supported by trans-rights campaigners, was passed by the Scottish Parliament in late 2022 but faced opposition from critics who said it would adversely affect single-sex spaces for women and girls.

The Court of Session found that the Scottish legislation would impinge on UK-wide equalities law.

Labour had indicted that, if it wins the next general election, it would not overturn the Conservative-made order.

When asked about whether he would seek discussions with a future Labour government at Westminster about this, new First Minister John Swinney told the BBC he would "wait and see" what the political landscape would be.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said its position "is simple" and the "UK Government should lift" the Section 35 order.

The spokesperson said: "The GRR Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament. If the UK Government lifted its legal block, the Section 35 order, it would become law.

"The problem is that the current UK Government has said they will not.

"The Scottish Government's position is simple – the UK Government should lift their Section 35 order.

"They have made clear however that they will not and, until they do, it is simply not legal to implement the legislation."