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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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.
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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.
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.
There is a lot at stake this week for Sophie Blake, a 52-year-old mother to a young adult, who was diagnosed with stage four cancer in May 2023.
As MPs vote on whether to change the law to allow assisted dying, Sophie tells Sky News of the day her life changed.
“One night I woke up and as I turned I felt a sensation of something in my breast actually move, and it was deep,” she says, speaking from her home in Brighton.
“Something fluidy, a very odd sensation. I woke up and made a doctor’s appointment.”
Sophie underwent an ultrasound followed by a biopsy before she was taken to a room in the clinic and offered water.
“They said, ‘a hundred percent, we believe you have breast cancer’.”
But it was the phone call with her mother that made it feel real.
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“My mum had been waiting at home. She phoned me and said ‘How is it darling?’ and I said ‘I’ve got breast cancer,’ and it was just that moment of having to say it out loud for the first time and that’s when that part of my life suddenly changed.”
Sophie says terminal cancers can leave patients dreading the thought of suffering at the end of their lives.
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“What I don’t want to be is in pain,” she says. “If I am facing an earlier death than I wanted then I want to be able to take control at the end.”
Assisted dying, she believes, gives her control: “It’s an insurance policy to have that there.”
Disability rights advocate Lucy Webster warns that for people like Sophie to have that choice, others could face pressure to die.
“All around the world, if you look at places where the bill has been introduced, they’ve been broadened and broadened and broadened,” she tells Sky News.
Lucy is referring to countries like Canada and Netherlands, where eligibility for assisted deaths have widened since laws allowing it were first passed.
Lucy, who is a wheelchair user and requires a lot of care, says society still sees disabled people as burdens which places them at particular risk.
“I don’t know a single disabled person who has not at some point had a stranger come up to us and say, ‘if I were you, I’d kill myself’,” she says.
The assisted dying bill, she says, reinforces the view that disabled lives aren’t worth living.
“I’ve definitely had doctors and healthcare professionals assume that my quality of life is inherently worse than other people’s. That’s a horrible assumption to be faced with when [for example] you’ve just gone to get antibiotics for a chest infection. There are some really deep-seated medical views on disability that are wrong.”
Under the plans, a person would need to be terminally ill and in the final six months of their life, and would have to take the fatal drugs themselves.
Among the safeguards are that two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and that a High Court judge must give their approval. But the bill does not make clear if that is a rubber-stamping exercise or if judges will have to investigate cases including risks of coercion.
Julian Hughes, honorary professor at Bristol Medical School, says there’s a very big question about whether courts have the room to take on such a task.
“At the moment in the family division I understand there are 19 judges and they supply 19,000 hours of court hearing in a year, but you’d have to have an extra 34,000,” he explains.
“We shouldn’t fool ourselves and think that there wouldn’t be some families who would be interested in getting the inheritance rather than spending the inheritance on care for their elderly family members. We could quickly become a society in which suicide becomes normalised.”
Young people will lose their benefits if they refuse to take up work and training opportunities, a minister has said ahead of announcing measures to cut the welfare bill.
Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, told Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that “conditions” will be attached to new skills opportunities the government intends to create.
With a record number of young people currently unemployed, Labour promised in its manifesto a “youth guarantee” for 18-21 year olds to have access to training, an apprenticeship, or support to find work.
“If people repeatedly refuse to take up the training work responsibilities, there will be sanctions on their benefits,” Ms Kendall said.
“The reason why we believe this so strongly is that we believe in our responsibility to provide those new opportunities which is what we will do. We will transform those opportunities, but young people will be required to take them up.”
The Labour government has said it will stick to a commitment under the former Tory administration to reduce the welfare bill by £3bn over five years.
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Ms Kendall said her party will bring in its “own reforms” to achieve that target, though did not elaborate further.
The Conservatives had planned to change work capability rules to tighten eligibility, so around 400,000 more people signed off sick long-term would be assessed as needing to prepare for work by 2028/29 to deliver the savings.
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Asked whether these people would ultimately be denied their current benefits under Labour’s plans, Ms Kendall told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “I’m saying we will bring forward our own reforms. You wouldn’t expect me to announce this on your programme.
“But my objective is that disabled people should have the same chances and rights to work as everybody else.”
The latest official forecasts published by the government show the number of people claiming incapacity benefits is expected to climb from around 2.5 million in 2019 to 4.2 million in 2029.
Last year there were just over three million claimants.
Ms Kendall will launch proposals on Tuesday designed to “get Britain working” amid concerns about the soaring unemployment rate.
The white paper is expected to include the placement of work coaches in mental health clinics and a “youth guarantee” aimed at ensuring those aged 18-21 are working or studying.
The UK remains the only G7 country that has higher levels of economic inactivity now than before the pandemic.
Ms Kendall said the reasons are “complex” and include the fact that the UK is an older and sicker nation.
Asked whether she believes “normal feelings” are being “over-medicalised”, she said that while some people may be “self-diagnosing” themselves with mental health issues it is a “genuine problem”.
“There’s not one simple thing. You know, the last government said people were too bluesy to work.
“I mean, I don’t know who they were speaking to. There is a genuine problem with mental health in this country.”
Ms Kendall’s language was softer than Sir Keir Starmer, who this weekend promised a crackdown on “criminals” who “game the system” .
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, he said: “Make no mistake, we will get to grips with the bulging benefits bill blighting our society.”
A man is fighting for his life after a stabbing on Westminster Bridge, police have said.
Officers were called to the scene at around 10.45am on Sunday to reports of a fight and found a man with a stab injury. He was taken to hospital in critical condition.
Three people have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and another has been arrested on suspicion of affray.
Two of those arrested were taken to hospital with minor facial injuries, the Met Police said.
It is understood the incident is not being treated as terror-related.
The road remains closed, with the police investigation ongoing.