John Swinney branded 'very cowardly' over single-sex spaces row

Scotland’s First Minister has been accused of acting “very cowardly” for refusing to set out the Government’s position on single-sex spaces amid a high-profile legal case involving a nurse and a trans doctor.

Susan Smith, of the campaign group For Women Scotland, said John Swinney was trying to “ride two horses” with his position on sex and gender self-ID.

Speaking during a fringe event at the Scottish Labour Conference, Ms Smith said the SNP leader would be unable to maintain his position of not speaking enough on the issue.

First Minister John Swinney | Jane Barlow/Press Association

Lucy Hunter Blackburn, who also attended the event organised by the Labour Women’s Declaration, warned the issue “is not going away”.

She said the tribunal involving a female nurse and a trans doctor sharing the same changing room would not be the end of the debate, regardless of the ruling.

Nurse Sandie Peggie took NHS Fife to a tribunal after she was suspended following a complaint about having to use the same changing room as Dr Beth Upton, a trans woman.

The First Minister has been tight-lipped to comment on the issue, claiming that to do so could be a breach of the law because it is a live case. However, he did say he agreed with his deputy Kate Forbes who offered her “unequivocal” support for single-sex spaces.

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Asked by the PA news agency about Mr Swinney’s position, Ms Smith said: “John Swinney is using the excuse of that case not to talk to us and not to comment and it’s very cowardly because I think he cannot maintain this.”

She urged politicians and government to clarify their position on single-sex spaces, which she said should be based on biological sex.

She added: “When politicians say, and we’ve had a lot of this this week, we’ve had the First Minister trying to ride two horses on this again, but when they say that sex is protected in the Equality Act we need to ask what they mean by that.”

Ms Blackburn said the NHS Fife tribunal would not be the end of the debate on sex and gender.

“This is not going to go away,” she said. “This is not going to die down.”

The UK’s Supreme Court will soon make a ruling on the definition of a woman in law in a case brought by For Women Scotland.

Ms Blackburn said that if the group wins its case “there really won’t be much more work that needs doing”.

She added: “We will have clarified that sex in the Equality Act simply means which half of the population you’re born into.

“If they (For Women Scotland) lose, however, then the only thing that will fix it is legislation.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government expects all relevant organisations to comply with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010.

“As employers, organisations may need to consider the impact of other legislation, such as the requirements of the law on health and safety in workplaces.

“The Scottish Government supports the separate and single-sex exceptions in the Equality Act 2010, which can allow for trans people to be excluded when this is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.”