Floundering new equalities minister shows how this parliament will continue corrosive gender-identity politics
Simita Kumar has done nothing to dispel fears of more of the same divisive gender ideology
Last week, the SNP’s new Minister for Equalities, Simita Kumar, made her debut appearance before the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee of the Scottish Parliament.
Elected in May this year, Kumar was catapulted into a ministerial role while still finding her feet as a new MSP. It’s an undoubtedly daunting position, particularly in a political minefield of a role; succeeding will require a willingness to have better conversations across party lines than the SNP has demonstrated in recent years.
Given the task she faces in her relatively new post, pouring harsh criticism on such a youthful newbie may be akin to kicking a puppy. She must still be recovering from her first grilling at committee, where the SNP government’s plans were subjected to gruelling scrutiny.
I jest. It’s the Scottish parliament committee system, and she’s a highly paid minister who should be subjected to fair, robust questioning.
Instead, the only remotely difficult queries put to the inexperienced, obviously out of her depth minister came from the Tories Meghan Gallagher and Reform’s Amanda Lindsay.
In answer to both, Kumar flustered, repeating the line “I’m at risk of repeating myself” seven times in total, despite saying very little at all to answer the perfectly reasonable questions both put to her.
Under question were two SNP proposals many women are gravely concerned about: a potential conversion therapy bill, and the promised Human Rights bill, currently scheduled for 2027.
Some may wonder how anyone could oppose such fluffy-sounding proposals, believing them to be all about kindness and rights.
Excuse the cynicism, but after a decade of severe attacks on women’s rights due to a series of incompetent blunders from the bust flush SNP government over the nebulous concept of ‘gender’, I’m highly-attuned to any repeat of the insanity-inducing antics many have come to know and loathe from them.
Ms Kumar’s performance did nothing to dampen fears this parliamentary session will feature a continuation of inherently divisive, corrosive gender-identity politics, which have already done so much damage to so many.
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She repeated - with raised eyebrows and a look of haughty incredulity - the line SNP MSPs routinely trot out about “respecting the Supreme Court judgment” won against them by For Women Scotland nearly 18 months ago.
The hint of exasperation when such answers are delivered betrays an underlying arrogance, given the absence of any admission of wrongdoing. It is entirely the SNP’s fault, through pig-headed ignorance, reckless governance, and a failure to listen to women, that FWS had to challenge their harmful, legally nonsensical policies in the courts in the first place.
It shouldn’t be underestimated what the SNP and their Green counterparts have done to undermine trust in Scottish politics by acting – and legislating - as if women are not a material category of human being.
But, that wasn’t the nub of the questions posed to Ms Kumar.
Amanda Lindsay asked for the SNP’s definition of ‘gender identity’, and whether this will be included as a category in their human rights bill, given past draft proposals suggest it might be?
Meghan Gallagher – I paraphrase here – wanted to highlight warnings from the Equality and Human Rights Commission and an army of extremely hacked off women’s rights campaigners about the risks of overstepping the bounds of devolved competencies, riding roughshod over UK equalities law to women’s detriment. “Again,” she could have added. Kumar woefully swerved answering either directly.
It’s clear at least one MSP on the committee will egg her on to prioritise ‘gender identity’ over women’s interests: Holly Bruce of the Scottish Greens. Urging Kumar take a “maximalist” approach to any human rights legislation, she was assured by the minister they were “very aligned” on issues like the conversion therapy bill.
If you’re aligned with Bruce on gender identity, or back her style of activism, I question your common sense, to put it mildly. This is a woman who, while a Green councillor in Glasgow – a role she still holds - was part of an angry mob of verbally abusive protestors outside the feminist FiLiA conference in Glasgow in October 2023.
Women from around the globe, including survivors of sex trafficking and the worst of male violence, were treated to shouts of ‘F—k You!’ led by an aggressive male cabaret act with a megaphone as they queued to attend the annual woman-only event.
This, after extremist attempts to have the conference cancelled due to false claims it was “transphobic”, including multiple emails to speakers from trans activists threatening public shaming and event disruption if they didn’t pull out.
After a year of planning and the confirmed attendance of over 1000 women, the venue, Platform, temporarily acquiesced to this harassment, before thankfully re-committing to the booking.
Nobody who genuinely supports “community cohesion” – something Kumar claims is a key priority - could condone what FiLiA was put through. Nor would they think it a sign of the “welcoming, inclusive” city activists like Bruce claim to champion.
Kumar’s opening speech at committee was an otherwise familiar blend of lulling, meaningless sloganeering about “inclusion” and “aspiration”, delivered haltingly with waffly imprecision.
While an admittedly more pleasant, calm, besuited version of your average placard-waving social-justice activist, she trilled “none of us will be free and equal until all of us are,” and that, in Scotland, “an attack on one of us is an attack on all.”
Seriously? These meaningless tropes and bland niceties may land well at political rallies, where they’re delivered to an unthinking crowd fired up on self-righteousness. At committee? Not so much.
At risk of repeating myself: women must not be forced to endure another five years fighting this government, while ministers pepper their speeches with reference to ‘kindness’ and ‘solidarity.’ After years of attack, we’re done with the hypocrisy.
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