Swinney seeks to ‘bring people together' following debate over gender rights
John Swinney accepted that a 'tremendous amount of difficulty and hurt' had been caused to 'all sides'.
But he insisted: 'Part of my role as First Minister is to do something about that and that is to bring people together.
'That's been the hallmark of my leadership of Scotland in the last 12 months.'
The SNP leader told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme: 'My purpose and my objective as First Minister is to bring people together in unity and cohesion in Scotland.'
Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon has raised concerns about the impact the Supreme Court ruling could have on the transgender community (Robert Perry/PA)
His comments in the wake of the landmark Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman, in a case brought against the Scottish Government.
ADVERTISEMENT
Judges there made clear that the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the 2010 Equality Act can 'refer to a biological woman and biological sex'.
But that has caused concern amongst the transgender community and their supporters – with former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon saying on Tuesday she feared trans lives could become 'unliveable' as a result.
Meanwhile, SNP backbencher Michelle Thomson has called on both Mr Swinney and Ms Sturgeon to apologise to women who had to 'fight tooth and nail' for the right to single-sex spaces.
Mr Swinney however said Holyrood had had a 'very, very extensive democratic debate' on such matters when it considered legislation which was ultimately blocked by Westminster which would have allowed transgender Scots to self-identify in their preferred gender, without needing to go through a medical process.
The First Minister also stressed: 'On two occasions courts in Scotland supported the interpretation of the law that had been applied by the Scottish Government, which was based on guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.'
ADVERTISEMENT
But he added: 'I accept the Supreme Court, the ultimate decision maker on the interpretation of the law, has taken a different view.'
Mr Swinney also made clear the Scottish Government would 'of course' follow new guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which is due this summer.
He added: 'We are obviously are engaging in discussion with the Equality and Human Rights Commission to assist and to understand the direction of their thinking in the creation of the guidance, they have got a lot of work to do on that.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Rival anti-migrant and anti-racism protests face off outside a hotel housing migrants in London
LONDON — Anti-immigrant and anti-racism demonstrators faced off in London on Saturday in the latest in a series of protests outside hotels housing asylum-seekers. Several hundred protesters waving Union Jacks gathered outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in central London, calling for it to be closed as housing for migrants. Chants including 'Scum' and 'Britain is full' were directed at the hotel.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
ThinkCareBelieve: Week 28 America's Success in President Trump's Care
Washington, DC, Aug. 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Link to ThinkCareBelieve's Article: 28 of the Trump 2.0 Administration has been a climbing success and ThinkCareBelieve has just published an article covering it. The week started with President Trump making a landmark trade deal with EU President Von Der Leyen and meeting with UK Prime Minister Starmer at his Turnberry Home in Scotland. The deal unlocked one of the biggest economies in the world to America with the EU buying $750 Billion in energy from us and investing $600 Billion in America, with a 15% tariff across the board. The article also covers U.S. economy continues to improve strongly. Consumer confidence was up again in July. Real GDP growth increased at 3.0% annual rate which was vastly above expectations. Federal government spending fell for a 2nd straight quarter. Fixed investment rose by 2% following the jump in the 1st quarter. Core inflation has been lower than anyone predicted. Customs & tariff revenue total $150 billion since Trump took office. The article also shows how President Trump is restoring American economic sovereignty by reducing reliance on foreign countries, boosting America's growth with trillions in investments and creating about 2.5 million jobs for the American people since he took office. Also in ThenkCareBelieve's article, a comprehensive Digital Assets Report came out this week which will be a blueprint that will UNLEASH America's ingenuity establishing the U.S. as the crypto capital of the world, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says that "We are exploring possibilities in decentralized computing and digital payments to unlock the potential of blockchain technology." There were 4,399 Border Patrol apprehensions in July. That's down from 6,070 Border Patrol apprehensions in June. ThinkCareBelieve's article explores how we are reaching levels of border security we never thought possible. With CBP and ICE starting enticing new recruitment campaigns for new agents, child predators have nowhere to run. Under President Biden, Cartels made more money than they ever had, now that the border is secure, according to Tom Homan, Cartels are going broke. As ICE arrests are being made, trafficking and crime rings are being broken up and the children that they find, are being rescued. A very interesting segment of the article showcases Homeland Security Secretary Kristy Noem's visit to Chile where she signed an agreement to expand U.S technical capabilities for information sharing under the Biometric Identification Transnational Migration Alert Program. This cutting edge technology will protect our country and share information between countries so that criminals have nowhere to hide. Border Czar Tom Homan says that 70% of the people that ICE is arresting are criminals. The other 30% are National Security threats Based on intelligence reports with deportation orders signed by federal judges. The article presents a shocking truth when HHS Secretary Kennedy publicly released findings of an HHS investigation that showed that the Danish health registry (big pharma funded) Andersson et al Study quoted by many members of the media, misrepresented the findings purporting that aluminum-containing vaccines are not associated with neurological injuries including autism and Asperger's, when the underlying evidence showed that there was actual harm being done. Secretary Kennedy calls it flawed science and indeed it is important that this be brought out in the open, so that corrections can be made to save children and for medicine to be about healing, and not about profits at the expense of human lives. Secretary Kennedy, Dr. Oz and President Trump announced the Health Tech Ecosystem Initiative this week, a public-private partnership aimed at modernizing the U.S. healthcare system through advanced technology for a smarter, more secure, and more personalized healthcare experience for Americans. In the article is the U.S Senate's attempts to clear the backlog of President Trump's 130 waiting Nominees and they are working on expediting the process. DNI Tulsi Gabbard released the Durham Annex, a batch of documents that were recently found in "burn bags" in FBI Headquarters. They contain Clinton Plan intelligence, potential foreign election interference, and the Page FISA renewals showing the false Trump-Russia collusion narrative was, according to CIA Director Ratcliffe, in actuality a coordinated plan to prevent and destroy Donald Trump's presidency. Senator Chuck Grassley says that transparency brings accountability. The seriousness of this cannot be overstated. What has been uncovered is nothing short of a treasonous crime against our Constitution. ThinkCareBelieve's article has the ODNI release of whistleblower testimony of how a National Intelligence Officer at the time, was threatened by a supervisor to go along with the Russia Collusion Hoax. This is startling proof of the lengths that were taken to pressure everyone to feed a false narrative to the American people in an attempt to take down a duly-elected sitting president. It brings to light the courage and tenacity of Devin Nunes, Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, to stand up and question that narrative and demand the evidence they had to support it and bringing their unwillingness to comply to light. It cannot be emphasized enough the significance of this information, which goes to the core Constitutional basis of our democracy. The announcement of the new use of Pell Grants for trade schools and training is covered in the article, and faith is back in the workplace. President Trump signed the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act into law Wednesday, cementing a partial claims program aimed at preventing veterans from losing their homes to foreclosure. It will allow veterans who are late on mortgage payments to tack-on those payments to the tail end of their loans. ThinkCareBelieve agrees wholeheartedly that it's time we take better care of the men and women who gave everything for our Country so we could be safe. Another feature of this week's article is the remarkable story of President Trump's ability to end a war that has been going on between Cambodia and Thailand over a border dispute that concerned 2 Temples. President Trump spoke to them plainly about a brighter future doing business with the United States and the importance of a ceasefire and peace so that trade negotiations with each country could be completed, and it was successful. Lives have been saved and prosperity will come to these countries as a result. Say a prayer of gratitude that we have a President that is truly working for Peace. President Trump is pumping life back into the American economy. America truly is the hottest country in the world right now. Those who tried to create public fear and trepidation, they just cannot believe President Trump's Trade Policy is successful, but as we can plainly see, it is. This week has been an incredible climb, as ThinkCareBelieve's article shows. is an outlook. ThinkCareBelieve's mission for Peace advocacy facilitates positive outcomes and expanded possibilities. To achieve Peace, we will find the commonalities between diverse groups and bring the focus on common needs, working together toward shared goals. Activism is an important aspect of ThinkCareBelieve, because public participation and awareness to issues needing exposure to light leads to justice. Improved transparency in government can lead to changes in policy and procedure resulting in more fluid communication between the public and the government that serves them. America needs hope right now, and Americans need to be more involved in their government. ### CONTACT: CONTACT: Joanne COMPANY: ThinkCareBelieve EMAIL: joanne@ WEB:
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
More clashes and arrests at UK immigration protests
Further scuffles broke out at anti-immigration protests in the UK on Saturday, with police making several arrests. Demonstrators calling for mass "remigration" gathered in central Manchester, northwest England, for a march organised by the far-right "Britain First" group, which was confronted by anti-racism groups. Meanwhile in central London, rival demonstrators converged outside a hotel housing asylum seekers, following similar recent events that have occasionally turned violent. In Manchester, the two groups clashed briefly at the start of the protest before police split them up, according to an AFP journalist at the scene. "Send them back, don't let them in -- just stop them coming in, we've got hotels full of immigrants and we've got our own homeless people in the streets begging for food but nowhere to live," said protestor Brendan O'Reilly, 66. Counter-protestor Judy, a 60-year-old retired nurse, told AFP she was there "because I don't want to see people full of hate on the streets of Manchester." "Do they want them all to go back or is it just people with brown skin? I suspect it's just people with brown skin that they want to re-migrate," she added. In London, similar clashes erupted outside a hotel in the Barbican neighbourhood before police intervened. Metropolitan Police wrote on X that officers had cleared a junction where counter-protesters had assembled in breach of the conditions in place. "There have been nine arrests so far, with seven for breaching Public Order Act conditions," added the force. There have been several flashpoints around the UK in recent weeks, most notably in the north-east London neighbourhood of Epping. jwp/gv
