Nicola Sturgeon

The First Minister was pressed by Channel 4 News on if she thought it was unacceptable that violent trans paedophile Katie Dolatowski was sited in a women's ...

[The accusations came following a second car crash interview ](https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/nicola-sturgeon-excruciating-car-crash-29087401)the First Minister took part in on Channel 4 where she was asked by Ciaran Jenkins [ about the case of Katie Dolatowski ](https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/scottish-news/trans-woman-battered-male-inmate-28511707)and refused THREE times to say whether she agreed he should have been placed in a women's prison. Otherwise the SNP would have been happy to keep ignoring this." Sign up to our daily newsletter Former Labour MSP Dr Richard Simpson added: "It was either right then or right now but it cant be both. The terrified youngster was grabbed by the face, shoved into the cubicle, and ordered to remove her trousers. The attack came a month after Dolatowski had filmed a 12-year-old girl on the toilet in another supermarket in the Fife town. This ban is new policy." The First Minister was asked about the media focus and public concern on the Dolatowski case and asked whether she was content that he was sent to a women's prison. And Ms Sturgeon was asked for a THIRD time whether she thought it was acceptable for Dolatowski to be sited in a women's prison considering the new rules. But she did not answer the question, instead rabbiting on about how the "prison service had a risk assessment in place" one which is under urgent review just over a month later and how it was an "operational decision" for them. And when Ms Sturgeon was pressed on this by Channel 4 she hid behind the fact it was a Scottish Prisons Service decision and nothing to do with the Scottish Government. [Nicola Sturgeon ](https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/all-about/nicola-sturgeon)was accused of only u-turning on [housing dangerous trans women in female prisons](https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scottish-prison-service-halts-movement-29079995) in a bid to save face and due to pressure from the media and opposition critics.

Nicola Sturgeon blustered and stuttered her way through a brutal grilling on trans rights last night, as pressure mounts on the First Minister over a row on ...

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The public outcry over a trans prisoner sent to a women's jail for rapes committed while she was a man has Nicola Sturgeon on the ropes.

The decision to pause sending trans prisoners to women-only jails was made to provide “clarity” to the public, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

But also, acting in a way that is challenging the notion that trans people generally pose threats to women or anybody else. “The government is dealing with this in an appropriate way,” she said. “Therefore, I hope that the measures… The report stated that 181 trans prisoners were in male estates and 49 were in female estates, with six transgender women in female “establishments”. [11 trans women and four trans men](https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/01/27/trans-women-prison/) currently held in Scottish prisons. “These are difficult issues. “But given the focus and given the concerns that have been posed as a result of the focus on these cases, what we have done is bring absolute clarity to that.” “There is no reason to assume that the outcome in both of those cases would not have been that they should be in a man’s prison. Brown stated that no trans person in custody would be permitted to move from male to female jails and that newly convicted trans prisoners who are deemed a danger to women would be kept in male prisons. [justice secretary Keith Brown announced that an “urgent review”](https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/01/30/scotland-trans-prisoners-womens-prisons-isla-bryson/) into several cases of trans women, charged with assaulting women, is to be carried out. [bill to reform gender recognition laws was blocked by Westminster](https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/01/17/tories-equal-pay-same-sex-spaces-blocking-scottish-gender-reform/) and a trans woman was convicted of rape. The decision to pause sending trans prisoners with a history of violence to women-only jails was made to provide “clarity” to the public, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

The appalling debacle of the double rapist, Isla Bryson, being locked up in a women's prison in Scotland, albeit in segregation, gave me pause for thought.

But if any good can come from this incident it is surely this: that at least a significant number of those who naively chanted the ‘be kind’ mantra have started to see that this is about much more than kindness to trans-identified people. I don’t know the thoughts of the current governor of Cornton Vale; I don’t know what representations she made, or actions she wanted to take, but I do know that I was, and am, no braver, no more moral, no more aware of the unique vulnerability of women in prison with their long, complex histories of abuse at the hands of men than any other governor in the Scottish Prison Service. Will it lead to a change in attitude from gender ideologists to those who express concern? To some of us, none of them are women and never will be. ‘Over my dead body,’ was the response I gave when another trans-identified male inmate sought to be moved to Cornton Vale, back in 2016, when I was in charge. The appalling debacle of the double rapist, Isla Bryson, being locked up in a women’s prison in Scotland, albeit in segregation, gave me pause for thought.

Dave Doogan was left flustered as he tried to blame the media during a bomb scare radio interview on BBC Five Live as host Nicky Campbell quizzed him on the ...

And he went on to say the issue had been "whipped up into a media frenzy for political gain". He then interrupted when Campbell pointed out Bryson was a "violent rapist" and tried to ask another guest about the issue. Pushed on why, if that was the case, 'she' was being sent to a male prison, Mr Doogan responded: "She has been moved to a male prison following a quite understandable level of interest and concern within Scotland." He said: "If there is a trans woman who was violently assaulted or raped women, they should not be in a women's prison." He claimed the move was "consistent with the Scottish Prison Service's risk assessment" and added: "If nothing else, this is about the equalising of rights between people no matter who they are or what gender they identify." Becoming more agitated said: "Violent rapists exist everywhere and the risk assessments have to be made no matter what gender they identify. [gender](https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/all-about/trans-debate) identity for years. Mr Doogan attempted to defend the Scottish Government on Campbell's Wednesday morning show. It comes against the backdrop of the SNP's controversial Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which has been blocked by Westminster and is designed to make it easier for someone to legally change sex. A Nationalist MP has stated he believes double-rapist Isla Bryson is a woman despite him being moved to a male prison last week. The First Minister had previously insisted that, although she let her views be known, the move had been entirely an operational issue for the Scottish Prison Service. [SNP](https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/all-about/snp) MP for Angus was audibly irritated at the presenter's line of questioning as he also said [Nicola Sturgeon](https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/all-about/nicola-sturgeon) did intervene in the decision to remove Bryson from Cornton Vale.

Nicola Sturgeon may be set to resign before the next General Election, according to an insider. It comes as a rumour is circulating that the public backlash ...

She doesn't have the same grip on the party anymore. Sign up to our daily newsletter I believe she holding on below the water line and I don't see a way back for her," he said. "That's not what the First Minister says. Despite claims to the contrary the First Minister has been linked to a job at the UN and has been repeatedly asked if she will make way for a new leader after the next general election. In Friday's interview with The News Agents podcast, she predicted Sir Keir Starmer "will be biting the hand off the SNP leader" for a deal after the next general election – suggesting she thinks a different leader may be in place. Ms Sturgeon has never faced a bigger rebellion within her own party over the gender reforms and that was before the UK Government stepped in to put a stop to her policy; and as each promise for an independence vote gets kicked down the line her position at the top wavers. Those are the words of someone who's just given up, seriously. Something's going on here," he added. The political weather has changed in Scotland since the Supreme Court ruling, since Blackford. Commenting on car crash interview with Ms Sturgeon where she branded opponents to her gender policy "misogynistic, homophobic, and racist" he said: "It was just the most staggering thing I've ever heard from a senior politician in Scotland." He caused a stir on social media on Tuesday by tweeting: "I'm told Nicola Sturgeon will shortly announce her decision to stand down as SNP leader before the next UK General Election."