Keir Starmer suggests Scottish Government didn't 'carry the public' with it over gender reforms

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Keir Starmer has suggested the Scottish Government failed "to carry the public" with it over gender recognition reforms.The Labour leader called for "a reset of the situation" while speaking at Port Vale Football Club in Stoke-on-Trent on Thursday morning.The Scottish Parliament passed the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill in December with cross-party support.But the UK Government used a Section 35 order to prevent the bill from becoming law.

Scots Secretary Alister Jack said it affected the UK-wide Equalities Act.Starmer made a speech and answered questions in Stoke as he outlined his party's crime and policing agenda.When asked whether he would update the UK-wide Gender Recognition Act to allow self-identification for trans people, he said: "If we reflect on what's happened in Scotland, the lesson I'd say from that is that if you're going to make reforms you have to carry the public with you."I think that's a very important message and I think that's why in Scotland there should be a reset of the situation."The proposed Scottish gender reform law has been controversial, with many members of the public and politicians speaking out about it.Two of the current SNP leadership candidates, Ash Regan and Kate Forbes, did not support the reforms and have said that they would not fight the Section 35 order.The legislation would allow people to obtain a gender recognition certificate without the need for a medical diagnosis.

This process is known as “self-identification”.It would also lower the minimum age for applicants to 16. It drops the time required for an applicant to live in their acquired gender from two years to three months but with a three-month reflection period.Starmer had previously contradicted Scottish