“For Women Scotland” Supreme Court Ruling

Debate between Baroness Stedman-Scott and Baroness Burt of Solihull

Thursday 24th April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

My Lords, we on these Benches warmly welcome the Supreme Court’s ruling and congratulate For Women Scotland and the many others who have campaigned tirelessly on this issue despite suffering abuse and threats at the hands of activists. I know that noble Lords across the House will agree that there is no place for threats and abuse in public discourse. I take the opportunity to thank the lesbian groups who came together as the Lesbian Interveners for the For Women Scotland case. These included the LGB Alliance, the Lesbian Project and Scottish Lesbians.

Many people, including many within the Conservative Party, have acted to protect the rights of women and girls, at great personal cost. In government we rejected Labour’s calls to introduce self-identification and ordered police forces to stop recording offences by trans women in female crime statistics.

We welcome the clarity that the Supreme Court judgment has given. This ruling is an important step forward for women and girls. We on the Conservative Benches have always known what a woman is, yet we regret that something as simple as biological sex has become so politicised. The Supreme Court ruling is a powerful victory for the many determined women who stood up for what they believe in, and for those across the UK who recognise the importance of protecting women and girls’ privacy and dignity.

However, we must acknowledge that this ruling follows years of struggle. It is only now that the Labour Party has listened. The judgment was a vital affirmation of the rights of women and girls to access single-sex spaces and have those rights protected. Biological sex matters in sports, in our prisons, in our hospitals and in our changing rooms. Unfortunately, women have had to struggle with the NHS, their employers and other organisations, and ultimately through the courts, to protect their privacy and dignity.

We hope that this ruling will safeguard the rights of women and girls and protect their dignity, ensuring fairness and preventing harm, but this ruling is just the beginning. We must now ensure that policy reflects this clarity, strengthening protections for single-sex spaces, safeguarding women’s sports and ensuring that our institutions are not clouded by ideology.

We are grateful for the Supreme Court judgment, and we once again thank For Women Scotland for its work in securing this ruling. However, I look to the Minister to provide further explanation of the steps that the Government will take to uphold this ruling. Will she ensure that the Equality and Human Rights Commission is supported by the Government in its enforcement of the code of practice?

The Minister will not be surprised that I have a few questions for her. If she cannot answer them all—although she can have a go—then I ask her to write to us. Will the Government publish relationships, sex and health education guidance that would prevent schools teaching gender ideology as fact? How will they ensure that schools comply with the ruling? Similarly, can the Minister confirm how the Government will ensure that all public services are fully compliant with the ruling?

Will the Minister ensure that the police now update all their policies after this judgment, particularly regarding the accurate reporting of male crimes and statistics and the right of women to be dealt with by female police officers, particularly in the event of a strip search?

Digital verification services enabled by the data Bill run the risk of reintroducing gender self-ID if they do not contain a requirement for accurate sex reporting. Will the Minister ensure that that is acted upon? My last question, the Minister will be pleased to know, is: will she confirm that people will be cared for on the hospital wards that are appropriate to their biological sex?

I hope the Minister will carefully consider the implications of the judgment and that her Government will look to do the right thing in securing the rights and safety of women and girls.

[Baroness Burt of Solihull (LD)]

My Lords, the Statement, which we have not had the privilege of listening to in this House today, said that the ruling was not a zero-sum game. That is a phrase I have been using for quite a long time in this context, and I totally agree, but the practical repercussions of the ruling have been left to others to sort out—for women, trans people, non-binary, intersex and anyone else who may not pass muster through no fault of their own.

We need guidelines, as the noble Baroness has just mentioned, for the management of single-sex spaces and for institutions such as hospitals, the police, operators of gyms and so on. Then there are everyone else’s human rights, such as the right to privacy and to safety—if you are a trans woman being forced to use men’s toilets, for example—and not to be subjected to degrading treatment. How will the Government organise these guidelines? Can the Minister say what the timescale is? In the meantime, what is the advice to those who are now not allowed to use single-sex facilities? Are they to lose their right to public life, including as advisers to this House?