Sturgeon is playing politics with her clumsy trans rights intervention

You would think Nicola Sturgeon had enough on her hands, what with overseeing a sluggish vaccine rollout, being under investigation by the Scottish parliament and hosting her own daily TV show on the BBC during the pandemic. Yet the leader of Scotland’s nationalist party has waded into the debate on trans rights and gender identity in a video published on Twitter. Sturgeon said:

‘I don’t have much time for anything other than the fight against Covid right now but on some days silence is not an option. This message wasn’t planned, it’s not scripted; I haven’t consulted with armies of advisers. That might be obvious. But what you’re about to hear comes from my heart.

‘Over the course of the day I’ve heard reports of mainly young people, in significant numbers, leaving the SNP. I know many of you personally, I consider you friends, I’ve campaigned alongside you. You are a credit to our party and our country.