Former SNP minister says Humza Yousaf ‘doesn’t have a chance’ of winning gender bill legal battle

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A former SNP Cabinet Secretary has warned Humza Yousaf he does not “have a cat in hell’s chance of winning at the British Supreme Court” over the UK Government’s block on gender recognition reforms.Former SNP MSP Alex Neil, who served in both Alex Salmond’s and Nicola Sturgeon’s governments, said Yousaf should reintroduce the legislation and deal with its “deficiencies” instead of mounting a legal challenge.It comes as the deadline approaches for Yousaf to confirm whether or not the Scottish Government will take legal action over the block.

The UK Government used Section 35 powers under the Scotland Act to prevent the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from gaining royal assent.The legislation was introduced to simplify and speed up the process used by trans people to gain legal certification in their preferred gender.

It was passed by Holyrood last December.But some women’s rights campaigners raised concerns about the impact the legislation would have on single-sex spaces for females.

The UK Government insisted it would have an “adverse impact on the operation of Great Britain-wide equalities legislation”.This was the reason given by Scottish Secretary Alister Jack for the decision to use Section 35 powers for the first time in the history of devolution to veto the Bill.Yousaf said on Tuesday that an announcement will be made “very imminently” on whether to challenge Westminster’s action.During the contest to replace Ms Sturgeon as SNP leader and Scottish first minister Mr Yousaf made clear that his “first principle was to challenge what I consider to be an undemocratic veto over legislation that was passed by a majority of the Scottish Parliament”.He told journalists on Tuesday he was considering legal advice on