The first minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf, has a painful choice following his latest defeat in the Court of Session today over the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. Yousaf had challenged the UK government’s use of Section 35 to block the gender bill because it could undermine UK-wide protections for women.
This futile exercise has already cost £230,000 in costs, and public patience is wearing thin on a bill that is opposed by two out of three voters in Scotland
Now either Yousaf perseveres with this profoundly unpopular legislation on Self-ID for trans people, or he abandons his coalition arrangement with the Scottish Green party. Under the terms of the 2021 Bute House agreement with the Scottish Greens, he must back the stalled gender bill all the way to the UK Supreme Court if necessary. The Green party leader, Patrick Harvie, says that securing the GRR bill is his ‘red line’.
This would of course be folly.
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