Ministers accused of ‘cowardice’ on issue of single-sex spaces for women
SNP ministers have been accused of “cowardice” as the Scottish Government refused calls to make a statement on the provision of single-sex spaces for women.
Following on from a high-profile employment tribunal brought by nurse Sandie Peggie, who had to share a changing room with a transgender doctor, Scottish Tories had wanted a government minister to make a statement to MSPs on Tuesday.
But a vote calling for this was defeated by 47 votes to 64.
Meanwhile, questions submitted for ministers to answer in the chamber, either as topical questions, urgent questions or at First Minister’s Questions, were not selected by Holyrood Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone.
Conservative Douglas Ross pressed her on this, saying while it was “frowned upon” for MSPs to challenge the Presiding Officer’s decisions, he did not know how members could raise the issue after Holyrood voted against a statement.
“When can members of the Scottish Parliament debate this important issue?” Mr Ross asked.
Tories have been left frustrated by the failure so far to select questions on the issue, but Ms Johnston said that “in line with longstanding convention” and in common with previous presiding officers, she would “not give reasons for selection decisions”.
She told MSPs: “There are many important questions submitted each week. I do not expect challenges to my authority when a member is not selected on a specific item of business.”
Her comments came after the Tories lost a vote to change the business at Holyrood so that ministers could make a statement on the provision of single-sex spaces.
Conservative equalities spokesperson Tess White raised the issue in the Parliament in the wake of the employment tribunal brought by Sandie Peggie, a nurse in NHS Fife.
She took the action against both the health board and transgender medic Dr Beth Upton after an incident involving the doctor in the hospital’s female changing room on December 24 2023.
Ms White said: “Sandie Peggie, an NHS nurse for 30 years, spoke up for her sex-based rights in the workplace because she did not want to share a changing facility with a biological male.
“But in doing so she has been treated as the perpetrator, not the victim.”
Calling for a ministerial statement on the provision of single-sex spaces for women in the public sector, Ms White added: “The situation that has arisen in NHS Fife speaks volumes about what is happening behind closed doors in Scotland’s public sector under this SNP government.”
She claimed policies on self-identification – where transgender people can legally identify as their preferred gender without undergoing a medical process – pursued by former first minister Nicola Sturgeon had “binned the rights of biologically female employees to access single-sex spaces”.
The Conservative MSP added that while MSPs had been contacted by constituents with “legitimate questions” in the wake of the case – which is still ongoing – they had been prevented from raising these at Holyrood.
Ms White said: “Women are watching today, the public have had enough of the recent abdication, obfuscation and moral cowardice from this government.
“We are only going to see more witch hunts at the public expense if we do not get clarity on the Scottish Government’s position.”
It is not good enough to come at the last minute and ask the government to make a statement the same day - frankly, it isn’t acceptable to ask that of ministers.
Parliamentary business minister Jamie Hepburn insisted the government was “not afraid of being held to account by the chamber” but said Holyrood’s schedule was “already busy” and they could not “accommodate another statement”.
He added: “This request wasn’t made at the 11th hour, it was made at beyond the 11th hour.
“It is not good enough to come at the last minute and ask the government to make a statement the same day – frankly, it isn’t acceptable to ask that of ministers.”
With Ms Peggie’s employment tribunal due to resume in July, he also raised concerns that comments made in Parliament could potentially prejudice the proceedings.
Mr Hepburn said: “There is a danger we could stray into that territory and I don’t think any of us would want to step across that ongoing process and put it at jeopardy.”
Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife Murdo Fraser insisted: “There is no risk of prejudice from a minister in this government speaking on the broader issue of access to single-sex rights, other than cowardice.”
But Mr Hepburn told the Tory that was “an absolute nonsense”, arguing sub judice could apply to civil cases as well as criminal ones.
The minister said: “It is a live case, we need to be careful what we say. I will say no more in relation to that matter.”