Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Why did Nicola Sturgeon's policy for the few encompass the many?

I've just had a brief look at Nicola Sturgeon's comments on the Supreme Court ruling.  I think the timing is unfortunate, given how it distracts from the Programme for Government, and I also think there's a fundamental contradiction in what she's saying.  She's arguing that trans people constitute a tiny percentage of the population and that their lives are in danger of being made unliveable by the ruling.  In other words, the harm done to a tiny minority is wildly disproportionate given that any benefits to biological women must be very small due to the trivial numbers involved.  

But to make that argument stick, you would need to have a system that ensures the numbers of biologically male individuals who can access female spaces are genuinely small and that the reasons for them being able to do so are sound.  You would in fact need to have an extremely strong system of medical gatekeeping to weed out those who are not trans but are simply "at it", to use Humza Yousaf's famous words.

Instead, Ms Sturgeon tried to do the total opposite and introduce a system of self-ID, which means you would have no way of limiting the numbers or to ensure the people involved are 'really' trans.  If, as Ms Sturgeon claims, the threat to women comes from men and not from trans women, it's incomprehensible that she wanted a system that didn't limit male access to female spaces to just trans women, but instead opened up access to all biological men upon demand.  

It didn't make any sense when she was doing it, and it doesn't make any sense now.

40 comments:

  1. Careful now, will get accused of being on the same side as The Rev on this issue!

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    1. Hardly. He would disagree with at least 80% of the above on a "no surrender" basis.

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  2. "I think the timing is unfortunate, given how it distracts from the Programme for Government"

    Or deliberate. Swinney has been quietly but competently dismantling the damage done by the BHA which made incompetence a shockingly frequent event, and perhaps she doesn't like it.

    And yes, despite my constructive criticisms I still think Swinney might deliver Independence with bold moves starting next January. Wash my mouth out with the kool aid!

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    1. "I still think Swinney might deliver Independence with bold moves starting next January"

      Has he had a personality transplant the rest of us haven't noticed?

      Swinney can be accused of being many things, bold isn't one of them.

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    2. When you get to a certain age you really don't give a stuff what people think. Which could work well for Swinney at the apex of his career. No more Mr Quiet Man!

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    3. You are at long last catching on to what I have been saying for over a month now about J S. N S needs to GTF, not double down with hyperbole.

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    4. NS should retire. Write a book or something.

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    5. Looking forward to the chapter about the lavender marriage.

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    6. Nicola lost something very dear to her, last year. We lost a titan, while she lost the leading light of her life: her nemesis, Alex Salmond. Without him to knife and knife and knife, her whole world fell apart around her. What to do with yourself now the enemy's buried? How do the days and hours make any sense without a purpose?

      Fortunately, she's found her answer. She's out to wreck Swinney now. May he rest in peace.

      I swear, if we ever get a vote on independence, she'll be campaigning for the Union. She'll find her reason. It was all the rest of us that moved.

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    7. A liar and an idiot.

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  3. PRO-INDEPENDENCE Plaid Cymru are set to win the 2026 Senedd elections, with Labour expected to slump to historic lows.

    The Welsh Labour Party, led by First Minister Eluned Morgan, would be on track for their worst result of the devolution era – gaining just 19 seats.

    Plaid Cymru could be the biggest party in Wales, with 35 seats, the poll published on Tuesday found.

    Reform were close behind the pro-indy party, with 30 seats projected from the YouGov poll which was carried out for ITV Cymru and Cardiff University.

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    1. That would really make the choice quite stark: on one hand, a Plaid administration; on the other, a Reform-led opposition, supported by the minor UK parties such as Labour

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    2. Hip hip hurray!

      Mae'r ci dan y bwrdd!
      Mae"r sospon dan y plismon.

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  4. people who do this sort of thing should at least be aware of how needlessly they're alienating young people in particular

    I suspect that Graham Linehan's fanbase among young people isn't all that great to begin with

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    1. Oh I don't know. I used to know a young person whose favourite sitcom of all time was Black Books. In any case, it's a broader point: I've lost count of the number of times I've seen leading gender critical people on Twitter make pro-Israel noises.

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  5. I saw photos in the papers of those royal sprogs looking at planes for some reason. Not one of the scrounging little conchies was wearing a poppy!

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  6. SNP confirm every Holyrood election candidate;

    • Aberdeen Central: Kevin Stewart
    • Aberdeen Deeside & North Kincardine: Stephen Flynn
    • Aberdeen Donside: Jackie Dunbar
    • Aberdeenshire East: Gillian Martin
    • Aberdeenshire West: Glen Reynolds
    • Airdrie: Neil Gray
    • Almond Valley: Angela Constance
    • Angus North & Mearns: Dawn Black
    • Angus South: Lloyd Melville
    • Argyll & Bute: Jenni Minto
    • Ayr: Siobhian Brown
    • Banffshire & Buchan Coast: Karen Adam
    • Bathgate: Pauline Stafford
    • Caithness, Sutherland & Ross: Maree Todd
    • Carrick, Cumnock & Doon Valley: Allan Dorans
    • Clackmannanshire & Dunblane: Keith Brown
    • Clydebank & Milngavie: Marie McNair
    • Clydesdale: Mairi McAllan
    • Coatbridge & Chryston: Fulton MacGregor
    • Cowdenbeath: David Barratt
    • Cumbernauld & Kilsyth: Jamie Hepburn
    • Cunninghame North: Kenneth Gibson
    • Cunninghame South: Patricia Gibson
    • Dumbarton: Math Campbell-Sturgess
    • Dumfriesshire: Stephen Thompson
    • Dundee City East: Stephen Gethins
    • Dundee City West: Heather Anderson
    • Dunfermline: Shirley-Anne Somerville
    • East Kilbride: Collette Stevenson
    • East Lothian Coast & Lammermuirs: Paul McLennan
    • Eastwood: Kirsten Oswald
    • Edinburgh Central: Angus Robertson
    • Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh & Tranent: Kate Campbell
    • Edinburgh North Eastern & Leith: Ben Macpherson
    • Edinburgh North Western: Lyn Jardine
    • Edinburgh Northern: Euan Hyslop
    • Edinburgh South Western: Simita Kumar
    • Edinburgh Southern: Sally Donald
    • Ettrick, Roxburgh & Berwickshire: John Redpath
    • Falkirk East & Linlithgow: Martyn Day
    • Falkirk West: Gary Bouse
    • Galloway & West Dumfries: Emma Harper
    • Glasgow Anniesland: Colm Merrick
    • Glasgow Baillieston & Shettleston: David Linden
    • Glasgow Cathcart & Pollok: Zen Ghani
    • Glasgow Central: Alison Thewliss
    • Glasgow Easterhouse & Springburn: Ivan McKee
    • Glasgow Kelvin & Maryhill: Bob Doris
    • Glasgow Southside: Kaukab Stewart
    • Inverclyde: Stuart McMillan
    • Inverness & Nairn: Emma Roddick
    • Kilmarnock & Irvine Valley: Alan Brown
    • Kirkcaldy: David Torrance
    • Mid Fife & Glenrothes: Jenny Gilruth
    • Midlothian North: Colin Beattie
    • Midlothian South, Tweeddale & Lauderdale: Calum Kerr
    • Moray: Laura Mitchell
    • Motherwell & Wishaw: Clare Adamson
    • Na h-Eileanan an Iar: Alasdair Allan
    • Orkney Islands: Robert Leslie
    • Paisley: George Adam
    • Perthshire North: John Swinney
    • Perthshire South & Kinross-shire: Jim Fairlie
    • Renfrewshire North & Cardonald: Michelle Campbell
    • Renfrewshire West & Levern Valley: Tom Arthur
    • Rutherglen & Cambuslang: Clare Haughey
    • Shetland Islands: Hannah Mary Goodlad
    • Skye, Lochaber & Badenoch: Kate Forbes
    • Stirling: Alyn Smith
    • Strathkelvin & Bearsden: Denis Johnston
    • Uddingston & Bellshill: Steven Bonnar

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    1. Best of luck to everyone single one.

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    2. A real surprise to see Chris McEleny included there.

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    3. Mad Dog built up the SNP from nothing, apparently.

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    4. Wasted opportunity to throw in a couple of joke ones, like Alyn Smith

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    5. Encouraging to see Aberdeen Deeside & North Kincardine going to Stephen Flynn.

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    6. As encouraging as any thief getting away with the crime.

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    7. Can't help but notice that Katy Loudon isn't on this list.

      If she's elected will she be out by next year?

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    8. Kirsten Oswald rewarded with a candidacy for her work promoting the decapitation of terfs.

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    9. "Inverness & Nairn: Emma Roddick"

      Fergus really needs to stand as an independent. Roddick would be overpromoted asking if you " want fries with that".

      "Edinburgh Southern: Sally Donald"

      FFS. The dumbed down version of Emma Roddick.

      As for Oswald, Jackson Carlaw thanks you for his re-election. He couldn't have done it without her!

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  7. I see the Gibsons' have Ayrshire sewn up.

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    1. Yes, I'd like to stick to my guns and not vote SNP if they're not flat out for Indy in 2026, but both Gibsons are good people, possibly the best of the bunch.

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  8. Abstaining is easy when E Roddick is your MSP.

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  9. Does David Francis know his arse from his elbow?

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    1. He appears to occupy a penthouse in your otherwise vacant heid. Why is that? Take your hands out your pockets and try to think before posting. You are a wee trolling wankstain.

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  10. This dangerous trans frankenstein assault on women & children along with its Scottish backers will thankfully enter the dustbin of history

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  11. Sturgeon making it clear today for even the most blind nicophant that her priority is trans stuff and not independence. The only thing strange is how a lot of people could not see that many years ago.

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  12. Who thinks Swinney is the inspiring leader to make Scotland rise up and be a nation again.

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    1. He'll do fine.

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    2. It’s for us to inspire others, one to one. Not you obviously you are just a trolling wee SNP Bad wankstain. Back to WOS for you.

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    3. Nobody thinks Swinney will inspire anyone but stupid people like 10.40am just think that is fine.

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