Mick Hartley

The latest Scottish imbroglio – they do seem to keep on coming – concerns the banning of a woman wearing a scarf in the colours of the suffragettes. First reported at the Glinner Update, it's now made the Telegraph:

A woman has been kicked out of a Holyrood debate about transgender rights because her scarf in suffragette colours was deemed unacceptable by parliament staff.

The member of the public who was to leave the public gallery blamed Nicola Sturgeon for “striking fear” into society by suggesting that feminist opposition to her transgender reforms are “unacceptable”.

She was removed from the meeting of Holyrood’s equalities committee on Tuesday morning, because she refused to take off her purple, white and green white striped scarf, the colours associated with the early 20th Century campaign for women’s votes.

Some feminists who oppose SNP plans to allow biological men to legally become women simply by signing a declaration have adopted the colours as part of their campaign.

The woman said she had eventually been told by parliament staff that her scarf had been deemed unacceptable because it was “associated with a political movement”.

However, two of the MSPs on the committee, and other parliament staffers, attended the hearing wearing rainbow lanyards, which have been adopted by trans rights activists. They were not asked to leave.

The woman who was kicked out of the hearing said she had been told that the order to remove her, if she did not take off the scarf, came from senior figures at the parliament who had seen her clothing on television.

“Women sitting very quietly, listening and engaging in democracy, are not allowed to wear certain colours while there are politicians in that room displaying their politics who have a direct impact on the legislation going through that will affect women’s rights,” she said.

Any sign of dissent from women against great leader Nicola Sturgeon – "a feminist to my fingertips" – cannot be tolerated.

According to the Herald, Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone has now apologised to the woman. She told MSPs this had been “an error.”