🗞️ Letter from the Editor: What on earth are the government's policymakers up to?

Hello Voornaam.

Over the last couple of weeks, among Holyrood watchers of my acquaintance, a sentiment has been uttered, repeatedly, with a tone of surprise.

The sentiment is always along the lines of: "She's in trouble with this," where "she" is First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, and "this" is the row specifically about transgender rapist Isla Bryson, and more generally Scotland's transgender rights debate.

For a politician who made her name for a studious, canny approach to policy, the whole episode is littered with mis-steps. At its heart is an aim - improved rights for transgender people - which is broadly supported by the Scottish public, according to opinion polls. But where the government, and specifically Nicola Sturgeon, has left the public and a portion of her own party's rank and file behind is on the extent of those new rights, and how those impinge on the rights of women. It is her misfortune that events should immediately press on the open wound of that controversial new legislation, in the richly unpleasant form of Bryson, convicted of a double rape but yet - for a while - incarcerated in a women's prison.

This week Sturgeon doubled down on her previous claim that some critics of gender reform are bigots, even if she repeated that she did not think all were.

It's shrill language from a First Minister who is on the defensive on the issue, struggling under questioning in the Scottish Parliament, and who is also facing criticism from within the Nationalist movement that she is expending political capital on an issue that seems far from the cause of independence.

If you're interested in reading further round the issue, we had two interesting voices in The Scotsman this week: Laura Waddell voiced her concerns that the Bryson case is being used to demonise all transgender people, while fellow columnist Vic Valentine - who is manager of a project to support gender identity rights in Scotland - said a blanket ban on trans women in female prisons would be a travesty. They urged that only those who pose a risk to women should be excluded.

Laura and Vic's voices matter, not least because they highlight the complexity of policy making in this area, which was also a subject for Tom Wood, the former senior police officer turned author (and Scotsman columnist). He addressed an issue that's played on my mind recently: what on earth are the government's policymakers up to? Across gender reform, the (latest) smacking ban and that pesky fire alarms legislation, he suggests the Scottish Government isn't following policymakers' "three golden rules". See if you agree - I certainly do.

Away from all that, can I highlight a couple of visual treats for you, in case you missed them on scotsman.com? The first is our amazing video of wolf dogs climbing the Isle of Skye's Cullin mountains - if you can cope with the slightly giddy feeling of the fisheye lens atop a climber's helmet, above some precipitous drops, it's a wonderful watch. Second, don't miss our gallery of spectacular photos from the Up Helly Aa fire festival in Shetland, which allowed women in its squads for the first time this week. It's a great sight.

And, finally, an early sample from tomorrow's Saturday magazine: an interview with Highlands-based Strictly Come Dancing Winner Hamza Yassin, and his partner Jowita Przystal. They're bringing the Strictly stage show to Scotland next month; a fun - and colourful - cover story to brighten your Saturday.

I hope you enjoy it, and have a wonderful weekend - perhaps brightened, we can only hope, by a Scotland win tomorrow afternoon in the Calcutta Cup...

Neil McIntosh

Editor, The Scotsman