Scots police defy Sturgeon by calling arrested trans butcher ‘a man’

SCOTTISH police have defied Nicola Sturgeon’s gender self-identification drive by referring to a transgender butcher arrested over the disappearance of an 11-year-old girl as a man.

Andrew George Miller, known locally as Amy, was taken into police custody on Monday night after an 11-year-old girl, who disappeared on Sunday, was found “safe and well” at a home in Gattonside, near Galashiels, after being missing for more than a day.

Police confirmed yesterday that a “53-year-old man”, understood to be Miller, had been arrested in connection with the disappearance, which caused grave concerns for the child’s welfare and led to a desperate search and rescue mission being launched.

Miller transitioned about six years ago when he changed his name to Amy and began dressing as a female, locals in the Scottish Borders said.

The decision by police to refer to the suspect as a man comes despite Ms Sturgeon’s push to change the law so that those who self-identify as a particular gender in Scotland can easily gain legal recognition in that gender. The First Minister is embroiled in a political crisis over the unrelated case of Isla Bryson, a transgender rapist who was initially placed in a female jail, under a prison policy that follows the same principles as her self-id law.

Ms Sturgeon has refused to state whether she believes Bryson is either a male or female. Under questioning, Ms Sturgeon has used female pronouns to refer to Bryson.

A poll has found only a third of Scots oppose the UK Government’s decision to veto the gender reforms.

The Ipsos survey found 50 per cent backed the Scottish Secretary’s move to block the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, compared to only 33 per cent who opposed it. The remaining 17 per cent did not know or did not want to say.

In a blow to Ms Sturgeon, even 31 per cent of SNP voters said the UK Government was right to block the legislation.

Miller has social media profiles as both Andrew Miller and “Amy George”. He publicly supported Ms Sturgeon’s push to make it easier for Scots to change their legal sex.

After the plans were blocked by the UK Government, he said that Westminster should “never mess with Scottish transgender issues”. In contrast to the approach taken by the Scottish courts and Ms Sturgeon to Bryson, previously known as Adam Graham, Police Scotland yesterday used male pronouns to describe Miller.

The approach also clashes with the views of transgender activists who insist it is discriminatory to refer to trans women as male.

Ms Sturgeon has repeatedly insisted that allowing male-bodied people to become legally female simply by signing a declaration poses no risk to women and girls, or single-sex spaces.

However, the claims have been undermined by the case of Bryson, who Ms Sturgeon has acknowledged may be faking their trans identity.

Four days after the UK Government announced it was blocking Ms Sturgeon’s Bill, owing to fears that the provisions would put women and girls in danger, Miller wrote on Facebook: “But the Transgender Policy. How can Westminster decide what we have decided?”

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “A 53-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the disappearance of an 11-year-old girl from Galashiels, who was reported missing on Sunday, 5 Feb.”

The force refused to say why it had referred to the suspect as a man.