Tory leader will not attend anti-far right summit

Russell Findlay said the "anti-far right" summit hosted by John Swinney was "not necessary"

The leader of the Scottish Conservatives has said he will not attend an "anti-right wing" summit being held by the first minister next week.

Russell Findlay claimed the event was "not required" and accused John Swinney of using the meeting to "deflect from the SNP's dismal record".

Swinney announced plans to hold the forum at Bute House in February, saying parties had to unite to "lock out" the far right from Scottish politics.

However, in a letter to the first minister, Findlay described the event as a "talking shop," adding Swinney should instead rule out bringing back gender reforms in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling earlier this week.

Swinney said he wanted to bring together political and civic leaders including trade unions, churches and charities to agree a "common approach" on Scottish values.

He said "storm clouds were gathering" over the threat posed by a rise in support for right wing politicians across Europe, and has included Reform UK in that description.

Reform - which denies it is a far right party - won 7% of the vote in Scotland in last summer's general election.

But Findlay said there was no need for a summit to agree on a joint position that "racist hatred should have no place in Scotland".

In his letter, Findlay said the independence movement was "responsible for sowing division while seeking to blame others for your government's many failings".

He wrote: "It is disappointing that you have failed to address my reasonable requests, which are to stop seeking to split up our country, stop pushing gender self-ID policies and give a commitment to being transparent and truthful with the Scottish public.

"If you wish to unite the country you should begin by addressing these concerns, which the majority of people across Scotland share.

"As you are not prepared to do that, I am therefore left to conclude that this summit is designed to deflect attention from your party's dismal record."

'Put politics aside'

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that the terms "woman" and "sex" in the 2010 Equality Act "refer to a biological woman and biological sex".

The ruling means people who are born male no longer have access to female-only facilities and services.

Swinney said he accepted the judgement despite a bill in 2022 that would have made it easier for people to change their legally recognised sex initially being passed by MSPs.

It was later blocked by the UK government.

Swinney said he hoped all parties would be able to come together to unite against the far right at the Bute House summit

Swinney accused Findlay of "searching for reasons not to take part" in the summit and urged him to join the forum.

"The gathering is an opportunity for Scotland to unite behind the common principle that far-right and racist hatred should have no place in Scotland and to agree a common approach to asserting Scotland's shared values and creating a cohesive society where everyone feels at home," he said.

"I would hope that all parties in parliament would be able to come together around this basic premise."

He added: "I hope that you will reflect, put politics aside and agree to take part."

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said he would take the opportunity of the summit to tell Swinney how to win back those "disaffected by politics".

"Govern well and deliver on the things that people actually care about like fast access to local healthcare. For too many people it feels like nothing works anymore and the SNP need to face up to their part in that," he said.

"Russell Findlay has instead decided to continue the unconstructive, anti-everything behaviour which has already seen his Conservatives lose one MSP to the Liberal Democrats."