John Swinney accused of 'harming public services' with SNP's gender debate

The debate over gender ID has erupted over an employment tribunal in Fife between nurse Sandie Peggie and NHS bosses.

Ms Peggie objected to sharing a female changing room with Dr Beth Upton, a transgender doctor. She also reportedly faces a separate conduct hearing for allegedly misgendering Dr Upton and compromising patient safety by refusing to work effectively with the trans colleague.

The Scottish Conservatives have repeatedly raised the issue, with party leader Russell Findlay now claiming “women’s right to single sex spaces are not protected in the NHS” in Scotland.

But in a fiery exchange with Mr Swinney at First Minister’s Questions (FMQs) on Thursday, the Scottish Tory leader was accused of “sowing division in our society”.

The Scottish Government’s plans to allow trans people to obtain a gender recognition certificate through self-ID were overwhelmingly backed by MSPs, but were blocked by the previous Conservative UK government over claims the devolved legislation would impact on UK-wide equalities laws.

No gender recognition certificate is required to enter a single sex space.

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The Scottish Government dropped an appeal over Westminster halting the plans and hasn’t brought forward any updated plans. Speaking at FMQs, Mr Findlay warned “just weeks ago, Scotland’s NHS published what it describes as a gender transitioning guide”.

He claimed the document “confirms that women’s right to single sex spaces are not protected in the NHS”, adding the “document has now disappeared from the NHS website”.

Mr Findlay said: “Has this guidance been scrapped? If not, will John Swinney do so?”

But the First Minister pointed to the guidance that highlights the UK Equality Act that “allows the provision to exclude a trans person from single or separate sex facilities”, which “must be made on a case-by-case basis”.

The guidance adds “managers must balance the needs of the trans person to use this facility against the needs of other members of staff”. But the Scottish Conservative leader claimed “this madness isn’t just happening within the NHS”, adding “it’s in schools, it’s in prisons, it’s in rape crisis centres”.

Mr Findlay claimed there were “female pupils too scared to use their toilets over fears of sexual intimidation or assault” and “rape victims [being] told they are bigots for wanting to know the sex of their counsellor”.

“Scotland’s public services waste too much time, energy and money on this nonsense all because of SNP gender self-ID policy and legislation - with the backing of Labour, the Lib Dems and the Greens,” he said.

“Astonishingly, John Swinney said that he has no regrets. Does he really have no regrets over causing all this harm to women and all this cost to taxpayers?”

But in response, Mr Swinney again pointed to the Equality Act, which he said was “enshrined in this piece of legislation this Parliament passed”.

He said: “I don’t know why Mr Findlay is so determined to just keep pursuing this line of argument, which is about sowing division in our society when the legal position is absolutely crystal clear that the Equality Act protects the ability to have single sex spaces in our country.”

Mr Findlay warned “the SNP focus on the issue of gender has harmed Scotland’s public services”. He said: “They’ve put their ideology before the rights of women and girls - but also before NHS waiting lists, before justice for victims, before our children’s education.”

There were more angry scenes in Holyrood just an hour later when Equalities Minister Kaukab Stewart was grilled on single-sex spaces in hospitals.

Rachael Hamilton, deputy leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said: “Time and time again the Scottish Government has shirked its responsibility for the safety of women and girls - even the First Minister is tone deaf.

“No woman should feel under pressure to undress in front of a male colleague. This is why women are fed up of the SNP putting gender ideology before their safety.”

Alba MSP Ash Regan added: “Almost one in three working women in Scotland are employed in the public sector, many in health and social care. The Government has a duty to ensure bodies uphold legal and regulatory protections. Women’s same-sex provisions is a legal provision and gender self-ID is not the law in Scotland.”

However, Ms Stewart merely repeated the wording of the Equality Act 2010 and said: “The Act allows for separate and single-sex spaces when this is an appropriate means of achieving a legitimate aim and it is the responsibility of service providers to interpret and comply with the Act.”

Elsewhere the Scottish Government was also questioned on single-sex toilets in schools. Scottish Conservative MSP Pam Gosal said: “Too many times in this chamber we have heard the SNP dismiss concerns about the safety of women and girls.

“Instead of safeguarding single-sex spaces like school toilets, the SNP has spent years trying to undermine them all in the name of dangerous gender ideology. The case of Sandie Peggie has revealed the SNP’s dismissive attitude towards women’s safety has well and truly infected Scotland’s public bodies.

“The lack of single-sex facilities puts the rights and safety of women and girls at risk, whether its girls being filmed in school toilets or women being forced to share changing rooms with biological males.”

Mr Swinney did admit the school building regulations, which were last updated in 1979, needed to be refreshed. He said a consultation on this would take place this year.