Nicola Sturgeon: We’ll be ashamed of vilification of trans people in years to come

Nicola Sturgeon has doubled down on her government’s flagship gender-ID policy in her first interview since announcing her retirement.

Standing in front of the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh on Wednesday, the former first minister defended political legacy – including gender recognition reforms that were eventually dropped having been blocked by the UK Government.

Sturgeon said it is “right and proper” for people to debate the issue robustly, but she regretted the “inability to debate things civilly and respectfully”.

“Whatever you think of gender recognition reform bill, it’s not in force,” she said.

“I think we’ll reach a point in time, I don’t know whether it’ll be in five, ten years or longer, when collectively we will look back at the vilification of trans people that’s happening right now and be quite ashamed of that.”

Scotland

Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon will not seek re-election next year

The ex-SNP leader announced on Wednesday morning that she will stand down run from Scottish Parliament in 2026.

Sturgeon was a staunch champion of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill that was passed by MSPs with cross-party support in December 2022.

The legislation was designed to streamline the process for people to obtain a gender recognition certificate – the official route to changing one’s legally recognised sex.

The Bill was later blocked by then-Scottish secretary Alister Jack with a never-used-before Section 35 order. Judges then ruled that Westminster acted lawfully when it vetoed the Scottish Government’s gender self-ID reforms.

Although the Bill is not in force, it has stirred lasting discussion and controversy over the rights of transgender people to self-ID in recent years.

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said on Wednesday that while her party would “wish any departing MSP well”, they could “not forget the deep divisions in our country that Nicola Sturgeon created, fostered and encouraged”.

She specifically accused Sturgeon’s “reckless” gender self-ID policy of betraying women.

‘Very shy, very awkward, quite geeky’

Defending her record in government, Sturgeon said she believes the cause for Scottish independence is stronger now than it was when she became First Minister in 2015.

“If you look at the strength of support for independence, especially amongst younger people in Scotland, it’s way beyond what it has ever been before,” she told STV News.

“There’s a lot of work still to do – we’re not there yet. I might not be in parliament after next year, but I’ll still be part of the campaign to win independence.”

Reflecting on her legacy, the former First Minister contemplated going back in time to speak a “very shy, very awkward, quite geeky 16-year-old” Sturgeon who first joined the SNP party.

“If I was to go back in time and tell her everything that has happened over the years since… I would become a member of a Scottish Parliament back then that didn’t even exist, that I would be a minister of an SNP government; that I’d be First Minister of Scotland, that I would help lead an independence referendum campaign. Frankly, [that young girl] would have thought she was hallucinating,” Sturgeon said.

Looking ahead, she said it was time to allow those in the next generation to “come up and carry on the work” of giving Scotland independence.

“I hope in years to come it will become an independent Parliament,” she said.

“Beyond that, I really hope we rediscover a sense of respect and civility that I think it has lost in past few years.

“There’s lots of members standing down at the election next year which means there will be a generation of new blood coming into institution and that should be I hope a fresh start moment.”

Public sector needs ‘clear instructions’ on women-only spaces, say Tories

Politicians at Holyrood are set to continue the debate over the protection of single-sex spaces on Wednesday amid the ongoing tribunal involving a transgender doctor and NHS Fife.

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay has lodged a motion claiming that the SNP Government has “failed to give sufficient clarity to the public sector” over the availability and protection of single-sex spaces – such as toilets and changing rooms – for women and girls.

Findlay’s motion has come just weeks after a tribunal involving NHS Fife and the use of changing rooms.

The employment tribunal was brought against the health board by nurse Sandie Peggie after she was suspended having complained about having to share a changing room with transgender medic Dr Beth Upton at the hospital where they both worked.

Conservative MSPs will argue that the “legal rights of biological females to access toilets and changing rooms, free from male-bodied colleagues, is being overridden by bosses who adhere to the SNP’s gender self-ID policy”.

Scotland’s social justice secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville will argue that the Scottish Government “fully upholds the Equality Act 2010” and welcomes the role of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission in providing codes of practice and guidance for bosses.

Scottish Labour’s Dame Jackie Baillie will call for “more accurate recording and reporting” in the NHS to lead to better protections.

Baillie’s amendment also calls for MSPs to support accessible and single-sex toilets at schools and calls for the Scottish Government to outline how “single-sex provision will be delivered in public buildings, such as schools and hospitals, and in line with legal obligations.”