Scottish politics won’t win in leadership race

THE toxic ramifications of the SNP’s calamitous transgender reforms are now dictating the terms of the party’s leadership contest.

Whoever wins the top job will have to decide whether or not to rescue the hated Bill, which contributed to Nicola Sturgeon’s downfall last week.

Kate Forbes said she would not have voted for the legislation had she been in a position to do so. Recognising that the law is widely despised, Miss Forbes also insisted that she wouldn’t challenge the UK Government’s block on the Bill.

For his part, her opponent Humza Yousaf said he will go to court to salvage the legislation, while his backers say he will ‘honour’ the legacy of Miss Sturgeon.

Regardless of the outcome of this battle it is clear that the fallout from the transgender debacle is far from over.

By backing legal changes that were approved in defiance of warnings that they would put women at risk, Miss Sturgeon unwittingly sowed the seeds of her own demise – but also set a trap for her successor.

Gaining the necessary support to take over from her might well necessitate securing the backing of Sturgeon loyalists in the party’s old guard, which means keeping the transgender Bill alive.

But doing so is high-risk given its manifest unpopularity, while fighting to save it from the scrap heap will also eat up more time and taxpayers’ money.

Yet it’s important to remember that – whatever their arguments about process and planning – in reality these politicians are radicals with only one burning priority: breaking up Britain.

Sadly for Scotland, irrespective of who wins the leadership race, the SNP’s constitutional obsession will continue to paralyse Scottish politics for as long as the party remains in power.