SCECLB368 Carin Skirrow

Senedd Cymru | Welsh Parliament

Y Pwyllgor Biliau Diwygio | Reform Bill Committee

Bil Senedd Cymru (Rhestrau Ymgeiswyr Etholiadol)| Senedd Cymru (Electoral Candidate Lists) Bill

Ymateb gan Carin Skirrow | Evidence from Carin Skirrow

What are your views on the general principles of the Bill and the need for legislation to deliver the Welsh Government’s stated policy objective (to make the Senedd a more effective legislature by ensuring it is broadly representative of the gender make-up of the population)?

Firstly, define ‘gender’ – what is it, and how many genders are there?  If you mean sex (i.e. the number of females and males in the population and whether they are adequately represented in the current split), use the word ‘sex’ instead of ‘gender’.

What are your views on the system of enforcement and potential sanctions for non-compliance proposed in the Bill?

Utterly meaningless if a candidate is allowed to lie about their sex.

Are there any potential barriers to the implementation of the Bill’s provisions? If so, what are they, and are they adequately taken into account in the Bill and the accompanying Explanatory Memorandum and Regulatory Impact Assessment?

Are any unintended consequences likely to arise from the Bill?

If you allow males to state their gender as women, you could potentially end up with 100% male candidate list (and vice versa).  The point of the exercise would be skewed from the off, unless the point is to force self-ID on the electorate.

What are your views on the Welsh Government’s assessment of the financial and other impacts of the Bill?

Self-declared gender has a detrimental effect on women.  It is men’s rights activism.

What are your views on the balance between the information contained on the face of the Bill and what is left to subordinate legislation? Are the powers for Welsh Ministers to make subordinate legislation appropriate?

Do you have any views on matters relating to the legislative competence of the Senedd including compatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights?

The Llywydd says that you lack the legislative competence to introduce this Bill, as it relates to reserved matters of equal opportunities and modifies the law on reserved matters (i.e. the Equality Act 2010).

Do you have any views on matters related to the quality of the legislation, or to the constitutional or other implications of the Bill?

We have one of the highest rates of women's representation in the world, the legislation proposed would reverse that.

Are there any other issues that you would like to raise about the Bill and the accompanying Explanatory Memorandum or any related matters?

You cannot address differences between men and women in policy if you cannot accept that a person's sex is more important than their self-identified gender and legislate on that basis alone.

Anything else?

Get Stonewall (and any lobby group that pushes 'trans rights') out of all government departments.  Transgender ideology poisons everything it touches.