‘No men should be placed in a female prison’

have brought Ms Sturgeon’s controversial Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill into sharp focus. Members of her own party now appear to have turned against her radical reforms, with Nationalist MP Angus MacNeil calling last night for the legislation to be scrapped, ‘and quickly’.

He said: ‘Holyrood has to sort this mess and fast – no need for Westminster or European Courts – Holyrood’s MSPs who were led to pass legislation that would entrench this, have to reverse, and quickly.’

His stinging rebuke was in reply to a tweet from Ash Regan, the MSP for the Edinburgh Eastern region who stepped down from her position as Community Safety Minister in protest at Ms Sturgeon’s gender change laws. The tweet read: ‘Tiffany Scott, formerly Andrew Burns, one of the most dangerous prisoners in Scotland, has gained approval to be moved to the women’s prison estate. Scott has attacked female prison officers and stalked a child from prison. No men should be placed in a women’s prison.’

Scott, 31, who was known as Burns when she began offending, has convictions for vandalism, assault and resisting arrest.

Behind bars her dangerous behaviour escalated.

She stalked a 13-year-old girl by sending her letters from her cell and attacked female staff while being held in a men’s prison.

In one horrific incident, she bit open her own veins and sprayed people with blood.

She was also deemed too dangerous to appear in open court.

Scott is one of around 120 prisoners with an Order for Lifelong Restriction, which means she will only be released when she is no longer considered an ‘unmanageable risk to public safety’. Despite this, her transfer to a women’s prison has recently been approved. It is understood the move is scheduled for later this year.

Scottish Conservative equalities spokesman Rachael Hamilton last night said: ‘The fact that such a violent and dangerous criminal is set to be transferred to a women’s prison is absolutely appalling.

‘It is clear that Tiffany Scott continues to present a grave risk to the safety of any women. The idea that this violent individual may soon have access to scores of vulnerable women within our prison estate is truly repellent.’

She added: ‘Women’s safety must not take a back seat to the wishes of violent criminals.

‘Nicola Sturgeon has already Uturned under public pressure to belatedly remove double rapist Isla Bryson from a women’s jail, she must now intervene to block the transfer of this violent individual before it takes place, or knowingly risk the safety of some of Scotland’s most vulnerable women.’

SNP politicians Mr MacNeil and Ms Regan are the latest to speak out against their leader after it was revealed Nationalist MP Lisa Cameron wrote to Scottish Secretary Alister Jack urging him to block the law on behalf of her concerned constituents.

All of them have challenged Ms Sturgeon and the party’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn on gender reform.

The Scottish Government’s gender reform Bill, which was blocked by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, would allow anyone over the age of 16 to ‘self-identify’ as the opposite sex without the need for medical evidence or diagnosis.

An amendment to the Bill that would have prevented people changing gender while awaiting trial was proposed by the Tories but voted down by MSPs.

Despite widespread outrage about the Bryson case, Ms Sturgeon used an interview on Friday to reiterate her position that there was no ‘blanket’ approach to housing transgender criminals.

She told The News Agents podcast: ‘The risk assessment proc

‘Access to scores of vulnerable women’ ‘Review of its gender recognition policy ’

ess, I believe, should reach the right outcomes in these cases. But in addition to that, the Scottish Prison Service is already undertaking a review of its gender recognition policy in terms of transgender prisoners, so there will be a reflection in that process of some of the voices that don’t often get heard in these debates.’

The Scottish Government said Ms Sturgeon ‘made clear in parliament that she does not believe that, as a general policy, someone convicted of rape should be accommodated in a female prison’.

It said the placement of prisoners ‘is an operational matter for the Scottish Prison Service’.

The prison service said: ‘We do not comment on individuals. Decisions by the SPS as to the most appropriate location to accommodate transgender people are made on an individualised basis.’