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          blue background, A younf woman holding a large black sign that says VOTE ! in white letters

          Scottish elections: young people more likely to vote if they started at 16 – new study

          Healthcare word seen in a scrabble

          “Leave no one behind” – the Health Foundation’s report into health inequalities in Scotland 2023.

          Sign saying NHS Greater Galsgow & Clyde in front of a hospital building

          Concern over patients waiting in corridors for free beds at Glasgow Superhospital

          A row of tall houses on the left, with parked cars in front on the side of the street

          Saving Scotland’s tenements

          Ben Nevis. Forground has green shrubbery, then background a mountain with two tops. Blue sky with a few streaky clouds

          Exploring the Highest Mountain in the British Isles: A Guide to Ben Nevis

          Image via Steller Systems, a potential candidate.

          Cancelling future frigates could be final nail in the coffin for the UK

          A hospital corridor with trolleys on the sides.

          Glasgow hospitals halt non-urgent operations due to pressure

          A scene of people demonstrating, holding Scotland flags. One man wears a tartan cap and holds a blue flag with both the Scottish cross and the EU stars on it.

          Is Alister Jack sane?

          Cartoon by Stan

          Film reviews award season

          Trending Tags

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          blue background, A younf woman holding a large black sign that says VOTE ! in white letters

          Scottish elections: young people more likely to vote if they started at 16 – new study

          A scene of people demonstrating, holding Scotland flags. One man wears a tartan cap and holds a blue flag with both the Scottish cross and the EU stars on it.

          Is Alister Jack sane?

          Image Malcom Laverty

          The Brown plan

          The climate change impacts of Russia’s war with Ukraine

          Britain wastes £1bn on drones to monitor English Channel

          The Autumn Statement – time to take a closer look

          Photo Mtaylor848, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

          Christmas cheer for Tesco if grim reading for the political classes

          Scottish independence isn’t going away

          Russia as a low-tech nation

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          A row of tall houses on the left, with parked cars in front on the side of the street

          Saving Scotland’s tenements

          A large red researcgh vessel in the sea with ice sheets all around it on the water.

          Rosyth shipyard attracts UK Government contract to maintain fleet of scientific research vessels

          large posts saying 'Glasgow Airport Business Park' on the left and right of a road leading away from the main road in the front. . On that road leading away building with walls almost entirely existing of windows.

          Why doing business in Scotland may be better for your corporate wellbeing

          A mountain of spools forming a tree on the left, a sandy area to the right and a row of houses at the back. mountains in the distance on the right

          The Ullapool Giving Tree

          Electric off-roader heralds return of vehicle mass-production in Scotland after 40 years

          Photo Mtaylor848, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

          Christmas cheer for Tesco if grim reading for the political classes

          Ferguson Marine will weather the storm

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          Police Scotland not investigating Scottish government over ferry contract criminality

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            Sign saying NHS Greater Galsgow & Clyde in front of a hospital building

            Concern over patients waiting in corridors for free beds at Glasgow Superhospital

            A hospital corridor with trolleys on the sides.

            Glasgow hospitals halt non-urgent operations due to pressure

            Two more unions reject Scottish Government NHS pay offer

            GMB union reject Scottish Government pay offer to NHS staff

            Lymphocites gathering

            How careful should we be when choosing a scientific term?

            Code Black – A mayday from the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital

            The challenges facing mental health care in Scotland

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              Ardnish wildfire by Leslie Barrie, CC BY-SA 2.0 Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic — CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons'

              Fire threats in the Scottish countryside

              Wood stove at the foot of the bed in the Danish Blue room at Pig Hill Inn, Cold Spring, New York. Printed with permission and confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

              When smoke gets in your eyes

              Opening of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP27 in Egypt. Photo courtesy of the UNFCCC

              COP27 and the inconvenient truth

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              Night of the strangling figs: a biological horror story

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              Home Rights and Freedoms Gender Recognition Reform Bill

              Gender Recognition Reform Bill no longer about gender recognition if London blocks Royal assent

              Following a noisy passage through the Holyrood parliament, Scotland's Gender Recognition Bill faces a controversial threat from London to stop Royal Assent

              Martin RochebyMartin Roche
              31-12-2022 07:00
              in Gender Recognition Reform Bill
              March and rally outside the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood), 5 September 2022 in support of Trans rights. Picture by Kat Cary, used with permission.

              March and rally outside the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood), 5 September 2022 in support of Trans rights. Picture by Kat Cary, used with permission.

              Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

              Just before the Christmas recess, the Scottish Parliament voted for the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. It passed with a majority of 47. The final stage of the legislative process should see King Charles IlI signing the bill to make it an act, at which point it becomes the law of Scotland.

              Except, the bill may never reach the Royal desk.

              Alister Jack, the Conservative Secretary of State for Scotland (SoS) has let it be known that he may invoke Article 35 of The Scotland Act. Article 35, which has never before been used, empowers the SoS to intervene in the affairs of the Holyrood parliament if there are:

              “reasonable grounds to believe that legislation would be incompatible with any international obligations or the interests of defence or national security, or

              “which make modifications of the law as it applies to reserved matters and which the Secretary of State has reasonable grounds to believe would have an adverse effect on the operation of the law as it applies to reserved matters.”

              The London government says the new Scottish legislation may affect existing UK-wide equality law. The Scottish government says this is not the case. London now has under three weeks to decide if it will block Royal Assent.

              You can just about envision the theme song to Rocky

              So, only a handful of weeks after the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) ruled in London’s favour over which parliament has the right to call an independence referendum, the constitutional boxing gloves are back on.

              Should London be moved to stop the gender recognition reform bill, the response of the Scottish government is already known. First, it will challenge the move in the Supreme Court, arguing that:

              • Holyrood acted entirety legally
              • It has the powers to legislate on Scottish domestic matters
              • The UK government is wrong to assert that the Scottish legislation may negatively affect people in England.

              That’s the legal and constitutional stuff.

              It’s not just the people of Scotland; the whole world is watching

              If you like real meat on your political plate, it’s the second element of the Scottish government’s strategy that has the potential to derail London’s case and score a big win for the independence cause, even if the court rule in London’s favour. It is the simple matter of democracy.

              Edinburgh will put its democracy case to the courts, though much more importantly it will take its argument to the people of Scotland and to the democratic world beyond the narrow shores of the UK.

              It will keep repeating there is no foundation for the UK government stopping the gender recognition reform bill becoming the law of Scotland. All the time it will tell the world that Scottish democracy is being frustrated by London for Tory party political reasons and to weaken the forces campaigning for independence.

              The independence cause will build on the outrage felt in Scotland when the UKSC trashed Holyrood’s contention that it had been given a democratic mandate by Scotland’s voters to hold an independence referendum. Scotland’s government was dismissed with a palpably arrogant swat by the Supreme Court bench, the judgement made even less palatable to Edinburgh for it being given by the Scottish judge who presides over the UKSC.

              Edinburgh march in support of trans rights head down the Royal Mile towards the Scottish Parliament. Picture by the author and used with permission
              LBGT+

              Edinburgh march and rally showed support for trans equality

              byKat Cary
              13 September 2022

              The blow-back from the UKSC ruling shook the 314-year-old union

              But the fall out from the UKSC ruling had exactly the opposite effect the unionist parties wanted. They had imagined that the blow to the standing of the Scottish Parliament would persuade large numbers of Scots to abandon thoughts of a second independence referendum and lose interest in the ‘constitutional question’, as the independence argument is often known by its opponents.

              What happened was a surge in support for independence. Five polls have been conducted since the UKSC ruling. Each has given a healthy majority to the independence side. Indeed, one poll recorded 56% in favour. None had less than 53% for a Yes to independence vote. Such high figures have not been seen before.

              Scotland felt itself being treated as a London plaything, that London was blocking any democratic route to Scotland deciding its own destiny. The UKSC rubbed Scotland up the wrong way. Ancient feelings of nationhood bubbled up and resentment at perceived English arrogance saw many Scots ask themselves if the 314-year-old union has run its course.

              Much of Scotland – even some on the pro-union side – feel Scotland is simply not being listened to by London. Scotland, they say, was completely ignored when 62% of its voters chose to remain in the EU. Scotland, they argue, has been shown by the UKSC’s rejection of the Scottish government’s referendum case, to have no legal route to decide its own constitutional future. Now, far away London is considering a direct challenge to the democratic legitimacy of Holyrood. Enough is enough is the cry more and more frequently heard across Scotland.

              England telling Scotland what to do has never been a productive approach for Scotland’s Tories. The country has not given the Conservatives a majority of its MPs since 1956. In the Thatcher years there was a time when not a single Tory MP could be found north of the border. The next general election is already looking bad for The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. All six of their seats are forecast to fall to the SNP.

              It won’t be a matter of sexual and gender equality that will change the game, but the trampling on Scotland’s democracy. Rishi Sunak and his Scottish Secretary would be wrong to think that the current debate around gender equality can be weaponised to save the Union. Scots, like people worldwide, tend to get indignant if their self-respect is trodden on by clumsy feet.

              History, pride, democracy

              Many Scots who don’t agree with this bill, or indeed Nicola Sturgeon, will not take well to London intervention. Evidence of that can be found on the Boxing Day letters page of The Times. A Tom Tindle of Callander, Perth and Kinross, wrote that he is not a supporter of Scottish independence and has “grave concerns about the new gender law. It is though,” he went on to say, “unacceptable for the UK government to consider a veto. Westminster must respect the sovereignty of our devolved parliament.”

              It’s a matter of history.

              It’s a matter of pride.

              It’s a matter of democracy.

              The dam of union will not hold forever if Scotland’s democracy is regularly weakened by ill-thought London tactics.


              We need your help! The press in our country is dominated by billionaire-owned media, many offshore and avoiding paying tax. We are a citizen journalism publication but still have significant costs. If you believe in what we do, please consider subscribing to the Bylines Gazette 🙏

              Tags: Alister JackDemocracyDevolutionGender Recognition ReformRoyal AccentScotlandSection 35ToriesUKSC
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              Martin Roche

              Martin Roche

              Aged 15, Martin began his working life on a Scottish evening newspaper. He then ran his family business before reading politics and international relations at Aberdeen University, as a mature student. He worked in London in investment promotion attraction for Scottish development agencies, followed by a 35-year career in international PR consultancy. He has been a columnist on African Leadership magazine, commenting on geopolitics, a regular contributor to foreign direct investment media and has written for business publications worldwide. He recently returned to Scotland. He lives in Glasgow.

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