The First Minister was wrong to state that he’ll exclude Reform UK from his cross-party discussions about Scotland’s political priorities, argues Herald columnist Kevin McKenna

It took less than a day for John Swinney to renege on a pledge he’d made in the immediate aftermath of the SNP’s election victory. The First Minister had said he wanted to “build a Scotland where everyone feels seen, where everyone feels at home and where everyone is able to contribute to Scotland’s story”.

This sounded good to those who had watched him and his party sow division across the country in its treatment of women defending their legally-protected sex-based rights. Perhaps now, Mr Swinney would agree to meet with For Women Scotland, the group who’d secured the Supreme Court’s endorsement that for the purposes of the Equality Act "woman" means a biological female.

The For Women Scotland campaigners have been seeking an audience with Mr Swinney for more than a year to discuss how his government planned to implement the Supreme Court’s ruling. Yet, the large volume of traffic in and out of Bute House taking tea with Mr Swinney remains closed to this group and – by extension – to the many thousands of ordinary Scottish women who support them. Now that the First Minister had pledged “to build a Scotland where everyone feels seen”, perhaps he would agree to see For Women Scotland.

Read more by Kevin McKenna

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Perhaps too, Mr Swinney would now call off the attack dogs in his party and in their political muses, the Scottish Greens, who routinely harass faith........

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