As if the continuous denial of Scotland’s democracy under successive UK Tory governments wasn’t bad enough already, Rishi Sunak has now decided to also wage war on devolution, using trans rights as a political weapon.
His decision to block the gender recognition bill using section 35 of the Scotland Act 1999 for the first time in the history of devolution is a further blow to the institutional relationship between the UK and Scotland and an effective downgrading of the devolution settlement.
It is even more damaging to the UK’s democratic reputation as the bill in question had been voted for by an overwhelming majority of MSPs representing all parties.
It is in essence a further demonstration of the political divergence between Scotland and England, in this case regarding trans rights but more widely with regard to civil rights in general, from the right to protest to the rights of migrants.
Every democrat in the UK and in Europe should have their alarms bell ringing when the democratic power of an assembly are effectively curtailed for political reasons.
We stand in solidarity with the Scottish people and the Scottish Parliament elected by them.