Nicola Sturgeon’s struggle to state whether a convicted rapist is a man or a woman has left the Scottish first minister dealing with a self inflicted political crisis over transgender rights and intensified questions about her leadership of the ruling Scottish National party.
Asked on Monday whether Isla Bryson, who was placed in a female only prison after being convicted of raping two women, was male or female, the Scottish first minister replied: “If you take a view that an individual of this description is a woman, in a prison context, that does not give that individual the right automatically to be accommodated in a female prison.”
Her reply came after she sidestepped a similar question last week, although she admitted that Bryson was “almost certainly” not truly transgender.
The Bryson case has sparked public outrage across the UK and has exacerbated splits over gender reform legislation within the pro-independence SNP. Sturgeon’s handling of the issue has…