There is war between the central parliaments of London and Edinburgh Gender Recognition Act, the controversial law recently passed in Scotland by the local Parliamentary Assembly to de facto liberalize sex reassignment surgery in the northern nation according to individual preferences of the moment. A law that would arbitrarily give the green light to sex reassignment surgery even to minors who have reached the age of 16, provided they are entered in an ad hoc register.
The law was passed at the initiative of Edinburgh’s independent and nationally progressive Executive, but does not find the favor of London and its Conservative government. There have been many and widespread protests against the Scottish decision, including from feminist groups who have blamed the Scottish Prime Minister Nicholas Sturgeon undermine women’s rights. Also against this law JK Rowlingthe literary “mother” of Harry Potter, the spokeswoman for the protests.
In the end, the law passed despite the protests, but now London’s Parliament has decided to use its full weight and assert a previously untapped prerogative that allows the central government to veto measures approved by Parliament Edumburger Parliament, based on Article 35 of the 1998 Decentralization Act to central government. Sunak is considering legal advice before Wednesday’s deadline. London can block a law if ministers believe it will be “adverse to the way it works”.
In it the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak it could also have the support of the opposition. the labor leader, Keir Starmer, expressed concern about Edinburgh’s decision and did not rule out supporting the government in its decision. In London there are many doubts about the constitutionality of the UK’s general legal framework. Apparently, the use of Article 35 is not popular in Edinburgh. Nicola Sturgeon called London’s attitude towards the democratic will of Scots “an outrage” and announced an appeal, not ruling out going as far as the UK Supreme Court. “Broadly speaking, what I can say is that we are going to defend the legislation absolutely, robustly and rigorously and with a very, very, very high level of confidence,” Sturgeon said.