Forget court and go back to Holyrood
The decision of the Court of Session that Westminster was lawful in blocking Scotland’s gender recognition reform laws has left a conundrum for the First Minister.
The level of concern among people in Scotland about the legislation should have been enough for the government to pause and think again before enacting it.
Amendments could and should have been made as concerns grew to produce a solid piece of law that offered more rights for transgender people whi le sti ll giving protection to all women.
Instead we are left with tensions flaring, sky-high legal bills and a minority population who feel they’ve been demonised and used as a political football.
All sides of the debate have been failed by it. Humza Yousaf is now stuck between a rock and a hard place.
If he does what his partners in government, the Green Party, want and appeals the ruling, it will mean spending more taxpayers’ money on something so divisive it’s likely to result in a bigger public outcry.
Never mind the tricky task to explain to his core supporters why he thinks a UK court in London has a superior opinion to Scotland’s highest civil court.
And it would hardly be a vote of confidence in our judicial system or the country’s ability to handle tough legal decisions.
With Scottish Secretary Alister Jack mulling over whether to bill Holyrood for Westminster’s £150,000 legal costs in this whole debacle, it should be a non-starter.
Lose at the Supreme Court and taxpayers could be left with a bill of almost £1million, in the middle of a cost- of-living crisis, by a government already accused of wasting millions of pounds of public cash.
At a time when money is tight, public services and councils are on their knees and his cabinet are holding emergency meetings to discuss their £1billion budget black hole, it would not only be naive but completely reckless to continue to pursue this case through the courts.
But there is another option.
Take the Bill back to Holyrood, make sensible amendments to it and move on.