Readers Letters: There's nothing hostile about collecting data on sex of MSPs

There may be privacy concerns about publishing any individual’s trans-status disclosure. But that cannot justify removing biological sex from equality monitoring, or treating sex data as inherently suspect. Without it, Parliament cannot measure women’s representation, sex discrimination or the consequences of policy for either sex. Data is not a weapon merely because it may disconfirm an ideology.

Likewise, coercion, abuse and fraudulent “therapies” should plainly be prohibited. Yet a conversion ban that penalises attempts to “suppress” a transgender identity, without an unequivocal safeguard for frank, non-directive discussion, risks criminalising ordinary dissent. A same-sex attracted parent, teacher, friend or counsellor who says men can’t actually become women and vice-versa, and that being homosexual means attraction to the same biological sex, could be portrayed as thwarting an identity.

For homosexuals, the danger is not simply censorship. It is that the law may make it hazardous to state what our orientation is oriented towards.

Sex data and same-sex attraction are not hostile acts; they are the very conditions on which sex equality and lesbian and gay rights are understood and safeguarded.

Brian Forsyth, Edinburgh

Limited ban

Before writing a comment piece about a new parliamentary bill, it is a good idea first to read that bill. If Murdo Fraser had read the England and Wales draft Conversion Practices Bill, he would have found that the bill does not, as he claimed, ban “any conduct that has the intention of changing a person's sexual orientation or transgender identity”.

It only bans such conduct when it has involved physical or psychological abuse, and has caused significant harm to the physical or mental health of the victim. Still, why be too concerned with the facts when instead there is an opportunity to describe again the transphobia that has so disfigured parts of our politics in recent years?

The English/Welsh draft bill does appear to have serious flaws, though, and the Scottish government's proposals, published two years ago, seem much better. Personally therefore, I hope to see a bill at Holyrood this coming year. Mr Fraser writes of that, “we can be assured of an enormous row”. But robust political debate (based on the actual facts of what is proposed!) is the lifeblood of democracy.

Tim Hopkins, Edinburgh

Tunnel vision

There is talk of tunnels being built to link some of the Shetland isles, although proposers are somewhat coy as to where the funding would come from.

I cannot see the private sector wanting to get involved. I cannot see local government getting involved due to shortage of cash. The same goes for Holyrood, and the thought of the SNP building tunnels is not attractive – they cannot build ferries, cannot run a ferry service, cannot upgrade roads – such asthe A9 – and cannot get cash to councils to fill potholes.

I’ll believe tunnels when I see them!

William Ballantine, Bo'ness, West Lothian

Worst defence

It’s finally here, after months of waiting the government has published the Defence Investment Plan to collective criticism from opposition parties.

Even Andy Burnham will be concerned given the £4.7 billion black hole after the £15bn defence uplift, a cop out, leaving his administration to find additional savings to meet 2.7 per cent of GDP on defence by 2030, not 3 per cent, which was the ambition. That’s 0.3 per cent short of the 3 per cent target pushed back to the next parliament and 0.8 per cent short of the 3.5 per cent target.

It’s all too little, too late, with Russia expected to be in a position to open up a Western Front against Nato by 2030 the UK is in a perilous position to defend itself, never mind its Nato allies. We can only hope a Democrat president is in power in the US by then and willing to support Europe against Vladimir Putin. It’s akin to Steve Clarke’s mantra of trusting in the footballing gods given his side’s lack of firepower.

The Scottish government will no doubt look to follow Labour’s lead by cutting road infrastructure projects or delaying dualling the A9 again. It should be concerned about the end of warship production in the Clyde, given the cancellation of the new destroyer programme replaced by AI technology.

If only we could replace our politicians with AI too. It’s time they finally woke up to the reality of the escalating £360bn of welfare spending draining resources, leaving the country defenceless to the growing Russian threat.

Neil Anderson, Edinburgh

UK influence

The UK may only produce 1 per cent of harmful emissions but what Allan Sutherland (Letters, 27 June) may not appreciate is that it still has significant influence in the world.

Take the case of CFCs, which were proved to be damaging the ozone layer. When it was proposed that this country should ban these chemicals, many scoffed, claiming major producers such as China, for instance, would never reduce theirs.

However, they did, and now the hole in the ozone layer is greatly reduced, if not completely repaired. So our cutting fossil-fuel emissions could have a positive effect beyond our borders.

Sadly, the stance of the UK can work the other way. At the last COP, several countries stated that because the UK was not signing up to the emissions reduction target, then neither would they.

Jane Ann Liston, St Andrews, Fife

Dull design

Turning an office block into flats may teach us about affordable housing policy (“Local partnerships can turn priorities into homes”, Business, 30 June), but the example Dougie Herd shows betrays no trace of intelligent modern design, even as offices.

In fact it demonstrates how unimaginative buildings can be if left to developers. Was an architect even involved?

Steuart Campbell, Edinburgh

Integrated info

I found a visit to the excellent and free Scotland’s First Warriors exhibition in the National Museum of Scotland highly illuminating, although not entirely for the reasons intended. The exhibition presents weapons and other artefacts associated with warriors from the Neolithic – around 4,000BC – through to the Roman period.

An explanatory board informs us that around 4,500 years ago “new communities arrived in Scotland from mainland Europe. They integrated with local inhabitants...” The word “integrated” is doing heroic lifting in that description of the beginning of the Bronze Age in Scotland.

What actually happened is that the Bell Beaker culture arrived from the continent. We know from genetic surveys of human remains that what resulted was something like a 90 per cent replacement of the gene pool in Britain.

The arrival of the Bell Beaker culture was one of the two largest discontinuities in our history (the arrival of farming was the other).

Their Indo-European language was the first one related to English and Gaelic on our island. Native British people owe their pale skin and eye colours to these people. The gene for lactase persistence, however, is a survival from their predecessors, the Early European Farmers.

What the new exhibition taught me is that curators, like most other historians, are erudite on the detail but completely fail to see the big picture.

Otto Inglis, Crossgates, Fife

Think national

Letters to The Scotsman in the past year have queried if the current system of gaining planning consent for large scale data centres through local government actually makes sense considering the impact these will have on the UK-wide energy use and needs. The charity Protect Rural Scotland highlight yet again major concerns associated with the current system of leaving decision-making to local authorities (your report, 1 July).

This ad hoc approach to such immense energy-using centres is beyond belief. Yes, it appears that UK industry will benefit from home located data centres and yes, given the probable surplus of energy in Scotland it seems it would be sensible to locate data centres within this country. However, it also makes sense that strategically important decisions are taken from a UK perspective rather than the current purely local decision-making process.

Of overriding concern must be to ensure our energy-using industry is not constrained by where these energy guzzlers are located or that ordinary energy use to our homes and offices are not impacted in a negative way.

A Lewis, West Linton

New balls please

Just a slight deviation from the more usual diatribes about the state of politics in Scotland. I enjoy the Now and Then column in my Scotsman, and today’s edition (1 July) lists that in 1967 colour television arrived at Wimbledon.

It is thanks to David Attenborough being BBC Controller that tennis balls are now yellow.

Apparently he said the white ones were difficult to screen on colour television. Hence worldwide they are now yellow. It really is wonderful the effects that man has had on life.

Charles Lowson, Fareham, Hants

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