THE leader of the Alba Party in Westminster has said he does not back proposed legislation on gender reform in Scotland.
Asked if he agreed with the proposed gender reforms in Scotland, Neale Hanvey told GB News: “No, I don’t. I think there are some very serious concerns that I have attempted to raise when I was a member of the SNP and others are frightened to raise because of the repercussions that those of us who have put our head above the parapet have suffered as a consequence.
“Balancing rights is not a simple matter. The SNP want everybody to believe that this is just an administrative change, when it actually has a significant consequential impact on our understanding of fundamental material categories like sex, what that means, and it distorts our language.”
Mr Hanvey added: “It’s really a completely unacceptable piece of legislation, the way that it’s been brought forward.
“That’s no criticism of the trans community whatsoever. I’ve campaigned for LGBT rights throughout my adult life, so that is not the issue.
“The issue is that this legislation, as it stands, facilitates the potential for predators to utilise this legislation to access vulnerable groups, not just women and children, but many other groups for nefarious purposes.
“That is an easily demonstrated argument – you just have to look at the current prison population where 42% of trans-identifying prisoners on the female estate are sexual predators.
“Now, if it wasn’t easy, then that would perhaps bid them off, but because it’s so easy it is a green light for them to abuse this legislation and that needs to be taken seriously.”
He commented in an interview during Friday Morning with Esther McVey and Philip Davies which came afterthe latest People’s Poll for GB News showed how 61% of people believe 16-year-olds are too young to change sex.
Mr Hanvey said: “There are ways to maintain legal consistency of which is the fundamental question at stake here that the Government have used. I don’t think that section 35 water was the correct mechanism
“There were two other mechanisms within the Scotland Act that they could have used. And my concern, my very deep concern is that in making the decision constitutional, it has handed Nicola Sturgeon the opportunity to talk about this as a constitutional issue, rather than get into the very important detail of how we balanced rights, how women’s rights and protections are enshrined in law and clarified.
“That’s unfortunate. There were the two other mechanisms section 33 and schedule six part one. I’ve asked the Secretary of State to clarify the legal reasons why they were not available.”
