Sturgeon in fresh chaos over gender
Now she’s forced to halt putting dangerous trans inmates in women’s jails
NICOLA Sturgeon’s gender policy has been thrown into turmoil after the Scottish government was forced to halt the movement of dangerous transgender prisoners into women’s jails.
Scottish Justice Secretary Keith Brown said no trans inmates with a violent record would be able to switch jails until an urgent review had been completed.
The move signalled the latest humiliating U- turn for Scotland’s First Minister – hours after her controversial policy was lambasted for lacking ‘common sense’ by a senior UN official.
Dr Alice Edwards, the UN’s special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, tweeted: ‘Female prisoners have a right to be protected from violent sex offenders no matter how they identify. Where is the common sense? Clearer guidelines are needed.’
Saying he was waiting for the outcome of a review by the Scottish Prison Service, Mr Brown said: ‘No transgender person already in custody with any history of violence against women will be moved from the male to the female estate.’
The transgender debate exploded in Scotland following the passing of Ms Sturgeon’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which made it easier for trans people to legally change the gender they’re born with. It is cur rently being blocked by the UK Government.
She then came under fire last week after trans prisoner Isla Bryson, who was convicted of two rapes while living as a man, was sent to a women’s prison.
Two days later Ms Sturgeon announced the 31-year- old would be moved to a male prison – shortly after Mr Brown said ministers would not intervene in the process.
The scandal deepened over the weekend when it emerged trans offender Tiffany Scott, who stalked a 13-year-old girl by sending her letters while in prison, had been approved for a move to a women’s jail.
Scott, who was previously known as Andrew Burns, has a string of convictions for assaults, vandalism and making false allegations against prison officers.
Scott is one of around 120 prisoners with an Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR), meaning she will be released only when she is no longer judged to be an ‘unmanageable risk to public safety’.
Yesterday Conservative MSP Craig Hoy said Ms Sturgeon was ‘on another planet’ when it came to gender issues.
He told the BBC’s Sunday Show: ‘ The First Minister should come forward this week with a statement as to whether or not the latest offender should be transferred to a women’s prison.
‘I would also want to see the Scottish Government come
‘On another planet’
forward with urgent legislation to ensure that no convicted male sex offender is transferred [to] or is housed in a women’s prison.’
A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service said it had started an ‘urgent review of all transgender cases’ and had ‘paused the movement of all transgender individuals’.
Last week Ms Sturgeon claimed that opponents of her reforms were ‘misogynistic and homophobic’.
She told the News Agents podcast: ‘There are people who have opposed this Bill that cloak themselves in women’s rights to make it acceptable, but just as they’re transphobic you’ll also find that they’re deeply misogynist, often homophobic.’