ALBA Party’s Neale Hanvey MP urges First Minister to Scrap Gender Reform Legal Battle and to Sack Deputy First Minister

ALBA Party Westminster leader Neale Hanvey MP has today written to First Minister Humza Yousaf to urge him to end his legal battle with the UK Government over the controversial Gender Reform Act.

Mr Hanvey has also highlighted that recent events have made the position of Deputy First Minister Shona Robison untenable and has called for Humza Yousaf to remove her from Government.

In his letter, Hanvey says that it “ is now indisputable that proponents of this legislation who, over a number of years, dismissed reasonably expressed concerns as either invalid, alarmist or inconsequential were wholly wrong in those assertions and misled Parliament in that regard.”

He continues “If your Scottish Government succeed in their challenge to the UK Government’s Section 35 order and bring this legislation into force it will make it easier for predatory men to invade the privacy, and threaten the safety, of women and girls. This risk is set to be further compounded by the introduction of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 which not only fails to protect women and girls as a sex-class, but also limits anyone from voicing genuine concerns they hold about predators seeking to use such loose reforms like GRR for nefarious purposes.”

Deputy First Minister Shona Robison MSP has drawn widespread condemnation for her previous remarks that dismissed safeguarding concerns. Last year she said “There is no evidence that predatory and abusive men have ever had to pretend to be anything else to carry out abusive and predatory behaviour."

ALBA Party’s Hanvey says that Yousaf must now sack Robison and remove her from her post, he concluded:

“the assertions of Deputy First Minister Shona Robison MSP were wholly wrong, misguided and dangerously complacent. It is not an unreasonable expectation that when a government minister gets an issue of such significance so appalling wrong then they take responsibility, apologise, and resign. If Ms Robinson chooses not to do so, it is vital for ongoing confidence in your administration that she is removed from Government forthwith.

Therefore, I urge you to ask the Depute First Minister to consider her position. If she does not resign over this abject failure to safeguard women and children from the real and foreseeable harms that have now occurred, then you must act to remove her from the Scottish Government with immediate effect.”