Swinney: I do not regret support for gender reform legislation

First Minister John Swinney has said he does not regret voting in favour of legislation which would have seen the introduction of self-identification for trans people to legally change their gender.

His comments come as Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said his party would not back the legislation if it were before the parliament again now.

The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill (GRR Bill) was passed by parliament in December 2022 with the support of members from all parties, including nearly all Labour MSPs.

But the bill was blocked from becoming law at the start of 2023 by then Scottish secretary Alister Jack, who said the bill interfered with UK-wide equalities legislation.

The Scottish Government, then led by Nicola Sturgeon with Swinney serving as deputy, took the UK Government to court over the matter but judges ruled Jack has acted lawfully.

The bill currently remains on the statute books but is not law, with the Labour government confirming it had no intention of lifting the block.

Speaking to the Holyrood Sources podcast this week, Sarwar said he had taken Scottish ministers “at face value” when they made assurances the law would “respect single-sex spaces based on biological sex”.

“Knowing what we know now, we would not have supported the bill,” he added.

Asked about his own views on the bill on Wednesday morning, the first minister reiterated his continued support.

He said: “I do not regret my support for the GRR Bill. It was a product of careful consideration by the Scottish Government in terms of the formulation of the legislation. It was the subject of very, very, very extensive parliamentary consideration of the legislation.

“I think what it was an attempt to do was to try to improve the circumstances of a very small minority in our country, in the trans community, to make life a bit easier for them. That was the purpose of the legislation and that was why I was happy to support it.”