Good morning. It’s called the “nuclear option” for a reason: in the 25 years since devolution in 1998, the UK government has never once deployed section 35 of the Scotland Act to unilaterally veto a bill passed by the Scottish parliament. Yesterday, the Scotland secretary Alister Jack used the power for the first time.
The reason for the intervention is the SNP’s gender recognition reform (Scotland) bill, a highly contentious piece of legislation that passed last month making it easier for transgender people to get a gender recognition certificate. Today’s newsletter, with the help of the Guardian’s Scotland correspondent Libby Brooks, explains all the issues at stake – and the constitutional battle that’s still to come. Here are the headlines.
