LAST month, the Gender Recognition Bill was approved in the Scottish Parliament with cross party support, despite a concerted attempt by the Conservatives to disrupt parliamentary proceedings. The bill's passage through Holyrood was ill-tempered, as you might expect of an issue which is at the very centre of the modern culture wars.
However the bill, which sought to simplify the attainment of legal recognition for the gender transition process of transgender people was passed by the Scottish Parliament with the support of two thirds of MSPs. A majority of SNP, Green, Labour, and Lib Dem MSPs approved the passage of the bill, and even three Conservative MSPs broke with their colleagues to vote in favour of the bill.
Yet now the Conservative Government in Westminster is taking the unprecedented step of using a Section 35 order to prevent the bill from being give Royal Assent and passing into law. This represents the most overt Conservative assault to date on the devolution settlement and as such an outrageous attack on the Scottish Parliament and the principles of devolution.
