For Women Scotland (FWS) has accused Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson of refusing to meet campaigners a year on from the Supreme Court victory on the legal definition of ‘woman’. All while the government umms and ahhs on issuing single-sex guidance in the wake of the ruling…
FWS director Susan Smith told the Telegraph it was “outrageous“:
“We’re really disappointed that Phillipson has not met with us yet. I don’t know whether it’s being blocked by Phillipson or the civil service. Somebody, somewhere does not want to meet us. It’s outrageous. I cannot believe we cannot get her in the same room as us.”
There was growing chatter over the weekend that Phillipson is prevaricating on the guidance because she is afraid of a backlash from Labour backbenchers. ‘Twas ever thus. It must have been lost in the same postbag as the elusive defence investment plan…
UPDATE: The Charity says: “We are pleased to report that Ms Phillipson has now offered a meeting.”
Speaking at an IPPR think tank event in London, the Health Secretary compared striking junior doctors to mutinous sailors.
“I feel like we’ve turned the ship, the boat’s going in the right direction, except some of the crew are trying to row in one direction while the rest of us are going in the other. You can’t make progress that way. We are seeing an improving NHS, and we’ve seen improvement despite resident doctors’ strikes, but the fact is, performance would have been better and there would have been more money to invest in staff and services if the BMA hadn’t been undertaking the strike action.”