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Daily Record
Daily Record
Politics
Andrew Quinn

SNP bid to overturn Section 35 order at Westminster and allow gender reforms to become law

The SNP has tabled a House of Commons motion stop Holyrood's gender recognition law from being blocked by the UK Government.

The party's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has submitted a motion to overturn the UK Government 's Section 35 order which blocked the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Scotland Secretary Alister Jack said last week that the bill had been blocked because it affected the UK-wide Equalities Act.

This was the first time that a Section 35 order had been used to strike down an act of the Scottish Parliament since it was founded in 1999.

The SNP have asked for the UK Government to allow MPs to vote on whether the order should be annulled.

Jack and Flynn are also meeting on Wednesday morning.

The motion reads: "That a humble Address be presented to His Majesty, praying that The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill (Prohibition on Submission for Royal Assent) Order 2023, dated 17 January 2023, a copy of which was laid before this House on 17 January 2023, be annulled."

Flynn said that the motion had cross-part has the backing of the overwhelming majority of Scotland's MPs and those from the other devolved nations including SNP, Lib Dem, Plaid Cymru, and SDLP MPs.

But it is unclear whether Labour would support the motion or not.

Flynn called the Section 35 order a "shameful attack on democracy" and claimed that "the entire devolution settlement is under threat."

Flynn said: "This unprecedented attack on Scottish democracy should never have happened. It shows Scotland will always be vulnerable under Westminster control, and independence is the only way to guarantee remote Westminster governments can't overturn Scotland's decisions.

"It speaks volumes that the overwhelming majority of Scotland's MPs, and cross-party MPs from across the devolved nations, oppose this Tory assault on devolution.

"MPs in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland know that if the Tories get away with this shameful attack on democracy, the entire devolution settlement is under threat - with the risk of any future Bill passed by a devolved parliament at risk of being struck down by Westminster.

"The SNP will continue to stand up for Scottish democracy and the rights of trans people, who are the casualties of this appalling Tory culture war. But it's clear the only way to properly protect Scotland's democracy is to become an independent country and escape Westminster control for good."

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