Murrayfield by-election: Voters may wish to consider Lib Dems' position on Gender Recognition Reform Bill – John McLellan

Liberal Democrat activists have been out and about in Murrayfield trying to convince voters in the forthcoming by-election that there is only a choice between them and the SNP.

If voters are daft enough to believe this, it must be a bleak prospect indeed, given how often they are prepared to vote with the SNP on key issues. Last week’s full council meeting was a good example of the key political division on gender recognition reform, with some two-thirds of the Scottish electorate opposed to the terms of the GRR Bill.

Thanks to enthusiastic Lib Dem support, a Greens GRR motion backed by the SNP was passed, so Edinburgh Council officially welcomes the passing of a bill which campaigners passionately believe exposes women’s safe spaces to risk from unscrupulous, predatory men, but also instructed officers to find ways to strengthen its provisions.

At least the Lib Dems are consistent, after their national leader Alex Cole-Hamilton publicly praised a trans activist who has brandished weapons on social media and is alleged to have made violent threats against feminists and who even the Green party has been forced to suspend. Gender recognition reform is unquestionably a factor in the by-election, with independent candidates standing on this single issue, but with two Lib Dem councillors already representing Murrayfield, a third would mean no representation for the majority who are not in support.

If voters really want an alternative voice to the SNP in Murrayfield, the last candidate they should select is the Lib Dem.