SNP gender rules ‘would hit UK’

NICOLA Sturgeon was accused yesterday of overreaching her powers by introducing transgender reforms that would rewrite equality laws across the UK.

Under Ms Sturgeon’s ‘self-ID’ bill, anyone who legally changed their gender in Scotland would be recognised as the opposite sex in the rest of Britain. It would mean a biological male as young as 1 would have the right to attend a girls’ school, and a prisoner could demand to be placed in a female jail even if they did not live as a woman.

The study by the Policy Exchange thinktank concludes that the planned reforms are so serious the UK Government should step in and stop them becoming law. In a foreword, former Advocate General for Scotland Lord Keen of Elie agrees, writing: ‘It would not only be impractical but constitutionally improper for the UK Government to permit a devolved legislature to enact a provision that had a material impact upon the operation of the law throughout the United Kingdom.’

The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, passed before Christmas, allows people to change their sex by obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate in just three months and without the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria.