THE Scottish Tories have demanded John Swinney sack all the SNP MSPs on Holyrood’s equalities committee after they supported Maggie Chapman remaining a member.
Green MSP Chapman faced a Conservative motion on Tuesday seeking to remove her from the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee, of which she is the deputy convener, after she told a trans rights protest that the Supreme Court’s decision that sex in the Equality Act 2010 is biological reflected “bigotry, prejudice, and hatred”.
The comments sparked a backlash from Scotland’s legal profession, with both the Law Society and the Faculty of Advocates speaking out against Chapman.
But Chapman survived the vote as three SNP MSPs – Marie McNair, Evelyn Tweed, and convener Karen Adam – and Chapman herself all voted down Tess White’s motion.
Now White has written to the First Minister saying he must “show some backbone” and remove the SNP members of the committee.
Swinney said Chapman’s comments were wrong adding “at no stage should we question the independence of the justiciary and the judicial system”.
White said: “John Swinney must finally show some backbone and remove the SNP members of the equalities committee who openly defied him by shamefully backing Maggie Chapman (below).
“If he fails to remove and replace them, he will be sending out the message that he has no respect for women or the rule of law.
“By defending the indefensible, the three SNP members have brought parliament into disrepute.”
White argued the positions of the SNP MSPs are now “untenable”.
After the victory in the vote, which means she will remain in post on the committee, Chapman said she was “grateful” to have held on.
"I have never questioned the court’s right to make the ruling that it did. But that does not mean that I must agree with it. I don’t, and I am very concerned about the impact it will have and is already having,” she said.
“I will always stand up and advocate for trans and non-binary people. Not just because it is the right thing to do, but because it is also my job to stand up for my constituents.”
White hit out at the SNP MSPs on the committee who had voted her motion down, saying that had “put political allegiance before Parliament”.
An SNP spokesperson said: "The SNP fully accepts the Supreme Court judgement and respects the rule of law. Maggie Chapman's comments were wrong and it is right that she reflects on them. As was said at Committee, Members do not control the comments of other members when they speak in a personal capacity."
