Blanket rule on trans women in men’s prisons would deny their identity, says Scottish government
A blanket rule to house transgender women in men’s prisons, even when they pose no risk to others, would be a “fundamental denial” of their identity, the Scottish government has argued.Placing a trans inmate in a prison that does not align with their lived gender runs counter to the aims of rehabilitation, Gerry Moynihan KC said on Thursday as he set out Scottish ministers’ position that a blanket rule on where prisoners are housed could contravene obligations under the European convention on human rights.In its latest court battle with the SNP government, For Women Scotland is challenging guidance that says trans prisoners should be housed according to individual risk assessment, which the group argues is contrary to the supreme court’s ruling on women-only spaces.For Women Scotland brought the original challenge that resulted in last April’s landmark ruling that the definition of a woman in equalities law refers to biological sex.Arguing that the supreme court decision was “not a universal proposition” but only for the purposes of the Equality Act, Moynihan said: “Where a transgender prisoner does not pose an article 8 problem, does not threaten the rights of others – are we to have an absolute rule that says that they must be accommodated in a prison of their sex?“Why? The sole reason is that they are to be classified as a man.
Even though they live their lives as a woman.It’s a fundamental denial of their choice of gender.And it’s a fundamental denial driven only by semantics.”On the final day of the hearing, Moynihan said that ministers could not ignore the risk of suicide that may arise from transgender prisoners being housed in facilities that do not align with their lived gender.He added: “It’s all too easy to say [the supreme court ruling] says a man’s a man and woman’s a woman.
The aim is to treat people in a way that is best for them in relation to their mental health and rehabilitation.”The UK equalities watchdog, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), told the court on Wednesday that the Scottish government had a duty to revise “outdated” guidance that had been superseded by the supreme court decision.Intervening on behalf of the EHRC, Janys Scott KC, said it was “regrettable” that there was a “temporary hiatus” in available national guidance.The UK government is still considering new guidance, submitted by the watchdog in the autumn, on how public bodies and businesses should apply the ruling.The judicial review ends as the SNP faces growing pressure over single-sex provision elsewhere in the public sector.
Karen Titchener, who was appointed to the new role of patient safety commissioner last September, told Holyrood’s health committee this week that she had received complaints about female patients feeling unsafe,Titchener asked: “Why aren’t we doing single-sex wards, particularly in mental health? We are talking about a vulnerable group,”
‘If someone had pulled the trigger’: MPs rue lack of challenger to oust Starmer
The most dangerous moment of Keir Starmer’s premiership came just after lunchtime on Wednesday, when mutiny was the talk of the Commons tea room.Anger is widespread across Labour – but it was at its most palpable among the party’s new MPs, as the Conservatives used a humble address to force the disclosure of the vetting documents and communications linked to Peter Mandelson, disgraced by his close association with Jeffrey Epstein.“At about 2pm yesterday, if someone had pulled the trigger, we would have moved,” one 2024 intake MP said on Thursday. “No one dared. I think that says a lot
Lord Triesman obituary
The wide-ranging diversity of the employment and pursuits in the packed public life of David Triesman, Lord Triesman, who has died aged 82, was fuelled by a visionary idealism he first displayed as a teenage schoolboy and which he thereafter sustained throughout a rollercoaster ride in sport, business and politics.He began his working life as an academic, spent nearly two decades as a trade union leader, ran the Labour party as general secretary for two years in the troubled run-up to the Iraq war from 200103 and then became a government minister in the House of Lords. A qualified senior football referee who had played for Tottenham Hotspur’s youth team in the 1960s, he served as chair of the Football Association from 2008 to 2010. He remained an active member of the Lords and numerous public bodies, and in 2011 founded his own consultancy dealing in property and private equity.In a letter he wrote from Labour’s headquarters as general secretary in 2003, he sought to re-engage the political commitment of disaffected party members, after the early shine of the Blair government was dimmed with disillusion, by defining his own lifelong fervour for a fairer world
Starmer has ‘full confidence’ in Morgan McSweeney, No 10 says amid calls for his sacking – as it happened
Keir Starmer has full confidence in his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, Downing Street has said.There have been calls by backbenchers for the sacking of McSweeney, whom many blame for his ally Peter Mandelson’s appointment to the ambassadorship.Asked if the prime minister agreed with calls for his chief of staff to be sacked, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said:It’s full confidence.It comes as Downing Street said it was talking with the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) about the process of releasing documents related to Mandelson’s appointment.The spokesperson said:We have begun discussions with the ISC about the process for releasing these documents
Mr Rules hits tipping point as Mandelson proves the one mistake that can’t be undone
It’s beginning to feel terminal. Not that there hasn’t been talk of Labour MPs wanting to remove Keir Starmer before. Just that this time there’s the sense of a tipping point being reached. No more second chances. No praying for a miracle that will never come in the May elections
Former Tory head of London council appointed Reform leader in Wales
Dan Thomas, a former Conservative leader of Barnet council, has been announced by Nigel Farage as Reform UK’s leader in Wales, three months before Senedd elections in which the hard-right party could win the most seats in the country.Farage received a standing ovation before he introduced Thomas at a sold-out rally at the International Convention Centre Wales, near Newport, on Thursday morning. Journalists were jeered and booed during the media conference.Thomas led Barnet council between 2019 and 2022, when the north London council was seized by Labour, and defected to Farage’s Reform party last summer. He stood down in December as a councillor for Finchley Church End – long synonymous with Margaret Thatcher – to move back to his south Wales valleys home town, Blackwood
Starmer apologises to Epstein victims as he seeks to weather Mandelson scandal
Keir Starmer has attempted to reboot his faltering premiership, apologising for appointing Peter Mandelson as US ambassador and urging his MPs to unite behind him.The prime minister gave a lengthy speech on Wednesday about community cohesion, but faced a barrage of questions about his leadership after one of his most turbulent days since entering Downing Street.With his authority over the Labour party and the Commons looking shakier than ever, the prime minister insisted he understood MPs’ concerns and issued a frank apology to victims of Jeffrey Epstein.Starmer said he regretted appointing Mandelson in Washington given his relationship with the financier and convicted child sex offender, about which he said the Labour peer had repeatedly lied.“The victims of Epstein have lived with trauma that most of us could barely comprehend, and they have to relive it again and again
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