I'm not rewriting history on support for gender reforms, claims Anas Sarwar
Scottish Labour had backed the SNP’s gender reform plans - but now says mistakes were made.
Anas Sarwar says he is not trying to rewrite history on his party’s support for gender reforms which would have impacted on single-sex spaces.
The Scottish Labour leader also declined to apologise to women on the stance his party took during the Gender Recognition Reform Bill debate back in 2022.
This comes after the UK Supreme Court declared that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 referred to biological sex, defeating the Scottish Government's legal defence.
The verdict in the case between For Women Scotland against the Scottish Government is now thought to have “significant implications” - the Equality and Human Rights Commission has warned the verdict will impact on single-sex spaces and who can access them.
During the gender reform debate, Scottish Labour MSPs were whipped into supporting the SNP’s bill which would have made it easier for trans people to legally change their gender.
Speaking during a visit to the Alexander Dennis bus manufacturing factory in Larbert, Mr Sarwar said: “I’ve been really open for a long period of time about some of the mistakes I think were made in the process of the bill.
“I’ve always said that we should have been stronger in our amendments.
“One of the things that we really fought hard for was, on the face of the bill, the supremacy of the Equality Act being front and centre to make sure we’re protecting single-sex spaces based on biological sex.
“It is a deep regret that the Scottish Government didn’t take that approach, but I think women feel significantly more reassured after the judgement yesterday.”
This comes after Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said: “Anas Sarwar’s Labour voted for Nicola Sturgeon’s divisive and dangerous gender self-ID law.
“So he’s got some front peddling this ridiculous rewriting of history.
“Does he think the people of Scotland are stupid?”
Mr Sarwar also refused to issue an apology to women for supporting the SNP’s gender reforms.
This comes after several demanded an apology from former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, who headed up the government during the Gender Recognition Reform Bill debate.
When asked if he would apologise, Mr Sarwar said: “The fundamental point from the judgement yesterday is we now have clarity on the Equality Act.
“I’ve always believed in the primacy of the Equality Act, even through the Gender Recognition Reform Bill process, and since we have argued for the protection of single-sex spaces based on biological sex.
“There has been, under the SNP government, a bit of a grey area on how the law is enacted by our public services, and now that we have a clear judgement, I think the SNP government has to issue clear guidance so we can ensure the Equality Act is upheld for all communities.”
During the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, Mr Sarwar and 17 of his fellow Labour MSPs backed the SNP’s proposals - Claire Baker MSP and Carol Mochan MSP were thrown off the Labour frontbenches for breaking the whip and voting against the proposals.
There are a number of pieces of legislation currently being considered by Holyrood that could be impacted by the Supreme Court verdict, including plans to criminalise misogyny and ban conversion therapy.
Earlier this month it was reported the government had paused its work on the misogyny bill to wait for the outcome of this court case.
Mr Sarwar says the government should be focusing on the NHS rather than other pieces of legislation which “inflame tensions”.
He said: “I think we have to get the balance right because the way the SNP government has pursued some of this legislation is they’ve done it without taking communities with us and without pursuing appropriate safeguards and road testing to make sure it doesn’t have a negative impact somewhere else.
"It was a mistake that misogyny was not included in the Hate Crime Act, which is something we pursued at the time but it was not taken on board by the SNP government.
“But in all of these issues we have to take a measured approach that doesn’t inflame tensions.
“Let’s focus on the big issues at the moment which is guidance to ensure everyone is following the Equality Act 2010 to uphold people’s rights, and what should be keeping John Swinney awake every night is clearing the NHS backlogs.
“That’s what people want the Scottish Government to focus on rather than trying to find other things to have big debates about.”
When asked by The Scotsman if he thinks trans people should be covered by any legislation to ban conversion therapy, Mr Sarwar said: “I think all of these things have to come at a much slower, considered pace.
“To be honest with you, I think the focus of the government has to be on clearing NHS backlogs, sorting our education system and making our communities safe places to be and taking communities with us at a much slower pace when it comes to the broader kind of identity-based legislation.”
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