A year after Supreme Court ruling on biological sex, SNP and Labour still don't know what a woman is
The SNP is still tying itself in knots over transgender prisoners, while Keir Starmer is staying strangely quiet about enforcing the law on single-sex spaces, writes Reform UK leader Malcolm Offord
One year ago to the day, the UK Supreme Court delivered a unanimous judgment for the women of Scotland. In crystal clear language, their Lordships ruled what every sensible person in Britain already knew. That “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 means biological sex, not one rubber-stamped on a gender recognition certificate.
Lord Hodge and his colleagues did not mince their words. The concept of sex is binary, they announced, and, as such, matters such as single-sex spaces should be protected on the basis of biological reality.
The ruling was a victory not just for women’s rights but for common sense. That it took a panel of judges to define what constitutes a woman simply underlined the dangerous direction Scottish politics has been heading in recent years.
Protecting the most vulnerable
For Women Scotland and the brave campaigners who fought this battle against the might of the Scottish Government, and in the face of huge hostility, deserve every ounce of credit.
I myself have never wavered on this. As a Scot who believes in protecting the rights of the most vulnerable, I stood with For Women Scotland from the start.
Once the ruling was issued, that really should have been the end of the so-called gender wars which have dominated political debate in this country for far too long. No more dithering, no more politicians foolishly struggling to define what a woman is. Or at least we hoped.
Yet here we are, 12 months on and large parts of the Scottish political establishment are still behaving as if the ruling never happened.
For the Scottish Greens, who once insisted that biology was a myth and that self-ID was a human right, the ruling was never going to represent the end of the matter. Green MSP Maggie Chapman publicly accused Supreme Court judges of “bigotry, prejudice and hatred”, an utterly reprehensible attack on the judiciary and the rule of law.
Sex means biological sex
Meanwhile, the SNP-led Scottish Government is still tying itself in knots over transgender prisoners. With wearisome predictability, ministers insist a “blanket rule” against housing male-bodied offenders in women’s jails would somehow be in breach of the European Court of Human Rights.
But the Supreme Court could not have been clearer. Sex in law is biological sex. There should be absolutely no place for men in a women's prison, regardless of how they identify. Yet the excuses keep coming.
Elsewhere, NHS boards, prisons and sports governing bodies still appear to be waiting for the political wind to change rather than implementing the law today.
Campaign groups funded by public money continue to smear women who point out the obvious as 'bigots'. And behind the scenes, there is quiet pressure to legislate around the judgment.
South of the Border, the Labour government has been equally complicit. The government keeps bleeding on about “getting this right”, but in reality it appears to be happier doing nothing.
Sir Keir Starmer has barely said a word about the landmark judgment. For a man who rarely passes up an opportunity to stress the importance of upholding the law, the Prime Minister's silence has been well and truly deafening.
In fact, so slow has the government been in implementing the ruling that a United Nations’ rapporteur has even waded in to criticise the UK over its dithering. Let that sink in: the United Nations is lecturing Britain for not implementing its own highest court’s judgment fast enough. It simply beggars belief.
Phillipson’s foot-dragging
As for the women and equalities minister, Bridget Phillipson, who still refuses to even meet with the For Women Scotland campaigners, she has repeatedly dragged her feet on publishing long-awaited guidance that would require public bodies and businesses to protect women-only spaces. Instead, the 300-odd pages drawn up by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) after the ruling have been gathering dust on her desk for months.
Ms Phillipson has claimed part of the delay is due to the government deciding to conduct a “regulatory impact assessment”, which typically takes three to six months. Yet this assessment is completely unnecessary. lt is hard to escape the impression that this is simply a fight the government would rather not face.
And don't just take my word for it. Just last weekend, cross-bench peer Baroness Falconer, former head of the EHRC, went so far as to accuse Ms Phillipson of putting her own career ahead of women's rights over fears that pro-trans backbenchers might try and scupper any chance of promotion should she press ahead and issue the EHRC's guidance. I'm sorry but that's just sheer cowardice.
If Ms Phillipson were truly on the side of women, as she continues to insist, she would mark the anniversary of the decision by ending the uncertainty and publishing the guidance immediately.
Well, I tell you here and now, Reform UK will not stand by and watch women’s rights being chiselled away by stealth. To the courageous women of For Women Scotland and all those who have faced abuse, threats and cancellation for standing up for biological truth, we thank you.
We have always been clear: Single-sex spaces must be protected on the basis of biological sex. No ifs, no buts. We will fight in the Scottish Parliament. We will fight in the courts if necessary to ensure this judgment is upheld.
The Supreme Court has spoken, and spoken clearly. It is high time everyone started listening.
Malcolm Offord is Reform UK’s candidate for Inverclyde and leader of the party in Scotland
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