Scottish government has ‘no plans’ to bring back gender bill after court ruling

The Scottish government has “no plans” to return to its controversial bill on gender recognition, the high-water mark of Nicola Sturgeon’s progressive agenda, as it attempted to reassure the trans community that “you are valued”.In a statement to MSPs on Tuesday afternoon, the social justice secretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville, said Holyrood “fully accepts” the judgment of the supreme court, which ruled against Scottish ministers last Wednesday in the culmination of a long-running legal action brought by the campaign group For Women Scotland.In a decision that was welcomed by gender-critical activists, five judges ruled unanimously that the legal definition of a woman in the Equality Act 2010 did not include transgender women who hold gender recognition certificates (GRCs).For Women Scotland was challenging Scottish government legislation aimed at improving gender balance on public boards, which allowed trans women with a GRC to sit in posts reserved for women.Somerville said the Scottish government would now amend guidance on this legislation to take account of the ruling

‘Extinction-level event’: Tories fear voters turning to Reform in Lincolnshire

On the gravel pathway of Aggie Chapman’s home in the village of West Deeping, a conversation about Lincolnshire’s upcoming elections suddenly shifted from opposition to a local quarry to worries about nuclear Armageddon.“World politics is so frightening right now that it’s all very well worrying about what’s happening in our back garden – and yes we don’t want the quarry here – but it’s kind of insignificant if we end up going into world war three,” she told Conservative canvassers including the local MP, John Hayes. She mentioned the experience of her daughter, a nurse, during the pandemic as an example of global instability.Minutes earlier, Hayes had confidently repeated the adage that “all politics is local” as he knocked on doors with Robert Waltham, an experienced local government leader who is the party’s mayoral candidate to head the newly created Greater Lincolnshire combined county authority.Yet in doorstep conversations with Conservative voters such as Chapman there was a glimpse of shifting national political foment as the party faces a serious challenge from Reform UK for more than 1,600 government seats across England

Keir Starmer welcomes ‘clarity’ of UK supreme court’s gender ruling

Keir Starmer has welcomed what he termed the “real clarity” of last week’s supreme court ruling on gender recognition, saying it was important now to draft guidance to help organisations deal with the repercussions.In his first comments since the court’s definitive ruling that “woman” in the Equality Act refers only to a biological woman, the prime minister called it “a welcome step forward”.Starmer has in the past taken a different view on the subject. As a Labour leadership candidate he signed up to a pledge “that trans women are women”, and he later criticised the then Labour MP Rosie Duffield, who now sits as an independent, for saying only women could have a cervix.Asked by ITV West Country if he would repeat that trans women are women, Starmer replied: “I think the supreme court has answered that question

Keir Starmer to seek to bolster defence ties as he hosts New Zealand PM

Keir Starmer will seek to strengthen the UK’s defence ties with New Zealand when he hosts the country’s prime minister on Tuesday.When he meets Christopher Luxon, Starmer will discuss extending a training programme for Ukrainian troops run by the two countries and agree a new £30m weapons deal.The meeting comes before a London gathering of British, French, German, Ukrainian and US officials on Wednesday. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is also expected to attend.French officials said the five countries held an “excellent” day of talks in Paris last week, with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, urging those present to put pressure on Moscow to end the fighting

Reeves to make case for free global trade at Washington IMF talks

Rachel Reeves will fly to Washington this week to argue for global free trade in the face of Donald Trump’s punitive tariffs, amid continued international economic turbulence.The UK chancellor will use the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund, which is attended by top finance ministers and central bankers, to make the case that free trade is in both British and global interests.One senior official said: “We’re facing a new economic reality, but we’re a heavily trading country, with the value of our exports the equivalent of 60% of GDP, so it’s always in our own interests to promote free trade.”Reeves will urge the Trump administration to cut punitive tariffs on UK car and steel exports and step up negotiations for a trade deal when she meets the US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, for the first time, allies said. He is seen as one of the less hardline US voices on trade

One more hard-hat photo opportunity for Rachel Reeves | Brief letters

Your pictures of Rachel Reeves in various hard hats, such as the one in Saturday’s paper, threaten to erase the memory of photos of Theresa and Philip May exiting church. Perhaps you could furnish us with a photo of Ms Reeves explaining to a group of benefit recipients why she proposed to cut their annual incomes by thousands of pounds, an encounter which would produce yet another hard-hat photo opportunity.Roderick MacFarquharEdinburgh Will UK universities follow France’s Aix-Marseille University in offering US-based researchers threatened by Trump’s crackdown on academia a “safe place” to undertake their work (Report, 17 April)? Will the government support such an initiative, or will they worry about upsetting the possibility of a UK-US trade deal?Rhiannon JonesSheffield I’d like the government to explain how we got into a situation where the wronged party pays the fines of those who broke the law (Water companies’ pollution incidents in England increased by 30% in 2024, 16 April).Marc Smith-EvansBagabag, the Philippines Things can get better (The death of customer service: why has it become so, so bad?, 17 April). The Passport Office recently renewed my passport in under a week