MBM statement on the Scottish Government decision to seek judicial review of the Section 35 order blocking the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill

Last week, in a widely publicised intervention, the EHRC advised that it would be helpful to amend the Equality Act to make clear that “sex” means “biological sex”. The Scottish Government has yet to comment on this. Instead, the First Minister regrettably appears interested only in taking potentially protracted legal proceedings to assert the Parliament’s right to pass the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, whatever its effects. That he has nothing to say about the substantive argument that it will adversely impact on the operation of the Equality Act for women sits uneasily with his commitment last month “to advance women’s rights”.