Why the government will block the SNP gender bill

The UK government has this evening confirmed that ministers will move to prevent the Scottish government’s gender recognition legislation from receiving Royal Assent. Announcing the decision in a statement, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said he had made the decision to make an order under Section 35 of the Scotland Act to stop the legislation passing – on the grounds that it ‘would have an adverse impact on the operation of Great Britain-wide equalities legislation’.

This is the first time in the history of the devolution settlement that the government will make a Section 35 order to block a bill in the Scottish parliament. The concern in Westminster has been that the proposed legislation – which relaxes rules around gender self-ID and therefore gender recognition certificates – could compromise the 2010 Equality Act. Jack cites this as the reason for the action in his statement – adding that the decision has not been taken lightly:

After thorough and careful consideration of all the relevant advice and the policy implications, I am concerned that this legislation would have an adverse impact on the operation of Great Britain-wide equalities legislation.