Scotland passes controversial legislation that makes it easier to legally change gender
People aged 16 will be able to apply to change their gender in Scotland, while the time required for someone to live in their acquired gender is to be slashed to three months after a controversial bill was passed.
After two long days of debate in the Scottish Parliament, the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill has been passed by 86 votes to 39.
The bill means:
• The minimum age at which someone can apply for a gender recognition certificate (GRC) will be lowered to 16 from 18.
• There will no longer be a need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria in order to receive a GRC.
• The time required for an applicant to live in their acquired gender will be cut from two years to three months with a three-month reflection period (six months for 16 and 17-year-olds).
However, the bill might still face hold ups, with the UK government already suggesting it could block it gaining Royal Assent.
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‘Toxic row’ over gender bill exposes division in Scottish parliament – analysis
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After two long days of debate in the Scottish Parliament, the controversial Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill has passed.
The bill has proved to be one of the most controversial in Holyrood since devolution but it passed following support from many in the SNP, Greens, Labour and Liberal Democrats.
Protesters took part in demonstrations both for and against the bill outside Holyrood on Wednesday as MSPs went through the final amendments.
And as Alison Johnstone, Holyrood’s presiding officer, announced the result, there were shouts of “shame on you” from the public gallery.
Opponents have raised concerns over its impact on the safety of women and girls, arguing the bill should not have been passed as it fails to protect women’s rights and single-sex spaces.
The UN’s special rapporteur on violence against women and girls said the reforms could allow violent males to “abuse” the system.
But the Scottish government has insisted the legislation will not impact the UK’s Equality Act, which allows trans people to be excluded from single-sex spaces such as changing rooms and shelters.
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SNP on Scotland’s gender reforms
The bill also proved controversial as it means the laws in Scotland will now be different to the rest of the UK.
More than 60 of the 153 amendments were voted on in the first sitting on Tuesday, with the rest the day after.
There were protests from the public gallery when an amendment that would make it harder for sex offenders to apply for a GRC was voted down.
The Scottish Conservatives appeared to be attempting to make the proceedings last as long as possible, tabling four amendments, a motion and a number of points of order before the debate had started – meaning the sitting on Tuesday finished at 12.15am.
The next sitting, which began on Wednesday, ran even later eventually concluding at 1.15am on Thursday morning.
Supporters of the For Women Scotland and the Scottish Feminist Network in a protest ahead of the vote
While First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been a strong supporter of the bill, not all in the SNP have toed the line, with seven MSPs from the ruling party voting against it and two others abstaining at stage one.
Minister Ash Regan was forced to quit over her objection.
MSPs backed a change on Tuesday which means anyone subject to a sexual harm prevention order or sexual offences prevention order will not be allowed to obtain a GRC.
An amendment to ensure applications are paused if an applicant is charged with a sexual offence until their case is disposed of divided members evenly, with the deputy presiding officer voting against it so it was not added to the bill.
The SNP deputy leader in Westminster, Mhairi Black, welcomed the passing of the bill on Twitter, posting the word “finally” along with a trans flag emoji.
Trans rights activist Dylan Hamilton told Sky News: “It [the bill] makes it easier for banking and easier to apply for a passport. I socially transitioned when I was 13, it was pretty obvious for me, I knew I wanted to transition.
“A GRC is sort of an administrative thing, it doesn’t affect your right to spaces, it’s not kind of a ‘pass to be trans’. Transwomen, transmen have been using the toilets of their choice for years, I know I have.”
However, the passage of the bill does not completely clear its path to the statute book.
The Scottish Secretary, Alister Jack, is now able to legally challenge the law if he believes it impacts on the UK, while private groups are also able to take legal action if they wish to do so.
In a statement after the final vote, Mr Jack said the UK government would consider taking it to the Supreme Court.
“We share the concerns that many people have regarding certain aspects of this bill, and in particular the safety issues for women and children,” he said.
“We will look closely at that, and also the ramifications for the 2010 Equality Act and other UK wide legislation, in the coming weeks – up to and including a Section 35 order stopping the bill going for Royal Assent if necessary.”
UK equalities minister Kemi Badenoch has also raised concerns about the impact of the bill on the rest of the country.
Footage of the moment 10-year-old Sara Sharif’s alleged killers were detained after police boarded their plane back to the UK has been played in court.
As they are approached by officers, Sara‘s stepmother Beinash Batool is heard saying: “I think you’re looking for us.”
Batool, 30, Sara’s father Urfan Sharif, 42, and uncle Faisal Malik, 29, are accused of carrying out a campaign of abuse against her culminating in her death at her family home in Surrey on 8 August last year.
The defendants, along with five of Sara’s siblings, aged between one and 13, flew to Pakistan the following day.
Sara’s body was found by police in a bunkbed on 10 August after Sharif called police from Pakistan to say he had beaten her “too much” for being “naughty”.
A murder investigation was launched involving agencies including Interpol and the National Crime Agency to locate the defendants.
They returned to the UK on a flight from Dubai to Gatwick Airport on 13 September.
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‘I beat her up too much’
The clips of officers’ body-worn video shown to the jury on Friday captured the moment police boarded the plane and detained the defendants at 7.42pm, seven minutes after touchdown.
After Batool addresses the officers, Sharif, who had been sitting next to her, is asked to follow them.
The three were then taken off the plane and arrested.
Pic: Surrey Police
A post-mortem examination established Sara had sustained extensive and significant injuries over a sustained period prior to her death.
The jury heard on Friday how concerns were raised by Sara’s school about bruising on her body in June 2022 and March 2023.
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Several items seized from Sara’s home were also reviewed by the court, including a leather belt which had full DNA samples at both ends for Sara, Sharif, and Malik.
A cricket bat was also found to have Sara’s DNA profile on it, along with the DNA samples of Sharif and Malik.
Neither item had a DNA trace of Batool.
The court also reviewed the defendants’ bank accounts – both joint and separate.
All three defendants have pleaded not guilty to murder and causing or allowing the death of a child.
The trial continues.
Six teenagers have been arrested after a 13-year-old girl was found with multiple stab wounds on a roadside near Hull.
Police said she was found around 6.50am on the A63 in Hessle with “life-threatening injuries” including “lacerations to her neck, abdomen, chest and back”.
Four boys and two girls – aged between 14 and 17 – were quickly arrested in a nearby wooded area and are being questioned on suspicion of attempted murder.
Members of the public came to the girl’s aid before emergency services arrived, Humberside Police said.
Detective Superintendent Simon Vickers said they “believe the attackers knew the victim” and the circumstances are still being investigated.
“The girl remains in hospital in critical condition and her family are being supported by officers at this difficult time,” he added.
The boys arrested are aged 14, 15, 16 and 17, and the girls 14 and 15.
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Cordons are in place around a wooded area off Ferriby High Road while investigations continue.
Police said they would have an increased presence in the area over the weekend and have asked anyone with information or video to get in touch, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously.
UK
Ex-soldier Daniel Khalife tells court it was a ‘foolish idea’ to have someone with his ‘skillset’ in prison
A former soldier has told a jury his escape from Wandsworth prison to avoid being held with sex offenders and terrorists showed his “skillset”.
Daniel Khalife, 23, who was being held accused of passing secrets to Iran said he was “never a real spy” but planned a fake defection to the state following his arrest after watching American television show Homeland.
He said he wanted to be moved to a high-security unit because he was getting unwanted attention from the sex offenders on the vulnerable prisoners wing and feared a move to Belmarsh prison because, as a British soldier, terrorists wanted to kill him.
Khalife said he first wanted to “make a show” of escaping, acting suspiciously and covering himself in soot from a food delivery lorry on 21 August last year, while he was working in the prison kitchen.
He was spotted and reported to security but was “pretty shocked” when nothing happened so decided to take the “full measure,” he told the jury.
A makeshift sling. Pic: Met Police
Talking about his escape for the first time at his Woolwich Crown Court trial, Khalife told how he fashioned a makeshift sling from kitchen trousers and carabiners used by inmates to keep their possessions safe from rats.
He attached it to the Bidfood lorry on 1 September last year, to see if it would be spotted by officers at Wandsworth or other prisons on the delivery route.
“I put the two carabiners and the makeshift rope underneath the lorry,” he said.
“When I had made the decision to actually leave the prison I was going to do it properly so I tested the security not just in Wandsworth
“Strangely, over the coming days, I could see it but it wasn’t spotted in Wandsworth or any other prison.”
Then on the morning of 6 September, Khalife said he concealed himself underneath the lorry, resting his back on the sling as the lorry was searched.
“They did normal checks around with torches but they didn’t find me. After that, a governor came to the tunnel and said, ‘Have you searched the vehicle?’
“I was facing upwards. There was action around the lorry.”
Daniel Khalife joined the Army aged 16
He said that when the vehicle stopped he “came out underneath the lorry and stayed in the prone position” until the lorry moved off.
Khalife, who joined the Army aged 16 and took up a post with the Royal Signals, based in Beacons barracks, Staffordshire, said he made no attempt to leave the country and had no intention to “run away” from the charges he was facing.
He was arrested three days later on the footpath of the Grand Union Canal in Northolt, west London, after a nationwide manhunt.
Asked why he had not handed himself in after his escape, Khalife said: “I was finally demonstrating what a foolish idea it was to have someone of my skillset in prison. What use was that to anyone?”
“I accept that I left the prison and didn’t have any permission to do so,” he said. “I accept absolutely that I shouldn’t have done what I did.”
Daniel Khalife
Inspired by Homeland
The court has heard Khalife initiated contact with Iranian intelligence officers after he was told he could not pass developed vetting because his mother was born in Iran.
Khalife told MI5 he wanted to be a “double agent” and he said in court he thought he would be “congratulated” but described his arrest as like a “punch in the face”.
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Wearing a blue checked shirt and chinos, he said police were “blinded at the prospect of a successful prosecution” but he did not think being in prison would be in “the public interest”.
“I didn’t do anything that harmed our national security. I wanted to put myself in a position where I could help my country,” he said.
“I believed I could continue my work actually located in the state – the state being Iran.”
Khalife said he took inspiration from watching Homeland, starring Claire Danes and Damian Lewis, in which Americans and terrorists go undercover, on Netflix.
“I had seen one of the characters in the programme had actually falsely defected to a particular country and utilised that position to further the national security interests of that character’s country,” he said.
“The country in question, Iran, thought it was real. She did it to further the interests of her own country.”
Khalife told jurors he is a “patriot”, adding: “I do love my country. All I wanted to do was help. I never wanted to do any harm, I never did do any harm.”
He added: “It is tragic it has come to this and I would do anything to go back to my career.”
Khalife, from Kingston, southwest London, denies a charge of committing an act prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state under the Official Secrets Act between 1 May 2019 and 6 January 2022.
He has also pleaded not guilty to a charge under the Terrorism Act of eliciting information about Armed Forces personnel on 2 August 2021, perpetrating a bomb hoax on or before 2 January 2023 and escaping from prison on 6 September last year.
The trial continues.
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