Exclusive:MSPs reject calls for Neil Gray to make statement on single-sex hospital spaces

MSPs shot down the Scottish Conservatives’ calls for Health Secretary Neil Gray to be forced to give an emergency ministerial statement on the guidance for single-sex rooms and toilets for public bodies.

This was voted down by 64 votes to 47.

This comes on the back of the case of Sandie Peggie, the nurse who took NHS Fife to an employment tribunal after a row over changing facilities with Dr Beth Upton, who identifies as a trans woman.

Separately it has been reported Ms Peggie is now subject to a misconduct hearing at the health board for misgendering Dr Upton and for compromising patient safety by refusing to work effectively with Dr Upton.

Several MSPs had asked for a topical question to be asked on this in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday afternoon, but all were rejected by Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone.

The Scottish Conservatives then asked for an urgent question on this to be asked instead, but this was again rejected.

Subscribe to The Steamie newsletter for daily political analysis

There were reports this was rejected on the grounds of subjudice (an issue which is under legal consideration and therefore cannot be discussed), but Ms Johnstone said this was not the reason it was rejected.

The Scottish Conservatives then instead tried to get an amendment to change the parliament’s timetable to get a ministerial statement on this instead.

Conservative MSP Tess White said: “Women are watching and the public have had enough of the recent abdication and moral cowardice from this government.

“We are only going to see more witch hunts at the public expense if we don’t get clarity on the Scottish Government’s position.”

She added: “The situation that has arisen in NHS Fife speaks volumes about what is happening behind closed doors in the public sector with this SNP government.

“Nicola Sturgeon’s self-ID policies binned the rights of biological female employees to access single-sex spaces.”

She added Ms Peggie is being “treated as the perpetrator and not the victim”.

The SNP government under Ms Sturgeon had passed the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which aimed to make it easier for trans people to legally change their gender.

This included removing the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria when applying for a gender recognition certificate - something referred to as self-ID.

Parliamentary Business Minister Jamie Hepburn angrily shot down the Conservatives’ calls for a ministerial statement, saying the parliamentary timetable was “already busy” and doing so could put the ongoing employment tribunal between Ms Peggie and Dr Upton “in jeopardy”.

He also said it was “absolute nonsense” for the Tories to claim subjudice does not apply in this case, and said the request for a statement was made “at beyond the 11th hour” which he said was “not good enough and not fair on parliament”.

The presiding officer also angrily shot down former Conservative leader Douglas Ross’s complaints that she did not accept any of the topical questions on this submitted to her, and said she “doesn’t expect challenges to [her] authority”.

This comes as Scottish Labour leaders said they would not have voted for the Gender Recognition Reform Bill if they had known what was to come.

Labour MSPs were whipped into supporting the gender reforms back in December 2022.

The bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament, but was then blocked from becoming law by the previous Conservative UK Government.

Speaking to the Holyrood Sources podcast, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: “Knowing what we know now, we would not have supported the bill.”

When asked if they support Ms Peggie, the party’s deputy leader Jackie Baillie MSP said: “I absolutely do - we have consistently said that we would protect single-sex spaces based on men and women, based on biological sex, and NHS Fife didn’t do that.

“At the end of the day, I’m very clear, the Equality Act is very clear, about what should have happened in this circumstance, and what I can’t get over is neither Neil Gray nor John Swinney seem to want to do anything about this.”

Mr Sarwar said part of the issue was “organisational capture” and “overreach” from government.

He added Scottish Labour supports single-sex spaces and services based on biological sex: “This is about following the law and the Equality Act is very clear.”