Scottish Government ‘non responsive’ following Supreme Court ruling – Tories

The Scottish Conservatives have said the Scottish Government has been “non responsive” on implementation of the Supreme Court ruling one year on.

Scottish Conservative candidate for Uddingston and Bellshill Meghan Gallacher attended the Women Won’t Wheesht rally on Saturday outside the Scottish Parliament to mark the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling, which reinforced that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

The Scottish Conservatives are proposing to make hospital wards single sex spaces in line with the ruling.

Women’s rights campaigners have been critical at the pace in which the ruling has been implemented in Scotland and have called for the Scottish Government to act quicker.

Ms Gallacher said: “Its not been implemented at pace when it should have been and again when we’ve been trying to seek answers from the Scottish Government, they have been non responsive in relation to how they’re going to fully implement the Supreme Court ruling.

“What we want to see is single sex spaces to make sure that women can access those spaces without any issues such as safeguarding, as we’ve spoken about, but also what we’ve seen reported in the press, where there has been instances where there has been sexual activities reported but also various crimes reported as well that could put women at risk.”

The Scottish Conservatives have pledged key proposals for women’s health on this anniversary including guaranteeing women access to a female GP or a women’s health specialist, launching a national awareness campaign on women’s health and enacting a women’s health charter.

The party has also said it would improve access to fertility services.

Ms Gallacher continued: “We launched our manifesto last week, I’m very proud of the policies that were put into our manifesto.

“And we wanted to make sure that there was a focus on women’s health, because we know that there’s been many women’s health issues raised over the duration of the last parliamentary term, but we want to go a step further than what the Scottish Government have done.

“Because we know that there’s a lot of areas where they’ve failed, and we think that we’ve got solutions to fix those.”

First Minister John Swinney said: “The government has taken the action that is necessary in light of the Supreme Court ruling to make sure that we work within that ruling, that we apply the ruling in all of the guidance that is available.

“Of course there are complex issues that have to be worked through, but the government has worked through those complex issues and has taken the correct stances as a consequence.”

Critics, however, claim little has changed since the ruling by the Supreme Court.

But Mr Swinney said: “I would take a different view, I think the government has taken the action that is necessary.

“There are obviously some issues that remain in front of the courts in that respect, but the government has taken the action that is required and will continue to do so.”

Asked about the court case by For Women Scotland on the issue of trans prisoners, he said: “These proceedings are live within the courts and it is inappropriate for me to comment on live court proceedings.”