Apologise to For Women Scotland, Police Scotland chief is urged

Police Scotland should apologise to campaign group For Women Scotland (FWS) after a rally was drowned out by a counter protester, the Scottish Parliament has heard.

Tom Harlow of the Cabaret Against Hate Speech set out noisy opposition to the FWS demo last week.

FWS had notified authorities of its plan to hold a protest outside the parliament calling for the Scottish Government to implement the judgment of the Supreme Court, which found that ‘sex’ in the Equality Act refers to biology, not gender.

The group wants to see guidance on upholding the provision of single-sex spaces and services rolled out across Scotland and has accused ministers of prevaricating.

But speakers were drowned out by loud pop music played by Harlow, whose group is described as an “ally and LGBTQ+” organisation.

Now MSPs have urged the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body to act over the “disruptive behaviour” and “unsafe” noise levels.

Conservative MSP Douglas Ross, whose wife is a police officer, said it appeared that the force had “assembled a protective cordon around this individual to allow him to disrupt an organised rally that was trying to get a message across to this government”.

Ross asked SPCB member Claire Baker: “Does she agree there should be a full statement from Chief Constable Joe Farrell, who has been silent on this issue, and at the very least, there should be an apology from Police Scotland to For Women Scotland?”

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said there had been an attempt to “drown out the For Women Scotland rally and the voices of women who came to their parliament”, and the decibel level of the music played “will have breached environmental health standards”.

Baillie said Harlow had turned the volume up, not down, and asked for discussions with City of Edinburgh Council over anti-social behaviour protocols.

Tory Pam Gosal MSP said the police actions meant the women protesters “appear to have been treated differently to trans rights activists”, risking “perceptions of bias” about the enforcement of protest rules. Independent MSP Jeremy Balfour said some of his constituents told him they had felt unsafe and Alba’s Ash Regan asked what steps the SPCB will take with the police “to ensure that women who are exercising their democratic rights are properly protected”.

Speaking for the SPCB, Claire Baker MSP said it was an issue of “balance” and parliament cannot tell police how to respond to situations. She said Police Scotland had asked the Cabaret Against Hate Speech to reduce its volume.

Baker said she recognised “strong feelings” on issue, telling members “there is always a balance to be made outside parliament”. She said: “It's for the police to decide when someone is making a legitimate protest.

“It is for the police to decide how things are managed outside the building. We will have discussions with the police if we know protests are happening and will advise.

“For Women Scotland did make us aware that an individual was expected to come along to the event that could be challenging to them. We gave that information to the police. It's up to police to decide what to do with that information.”