By Catriona Stewart

Copyright scotsman

The Scottish Government has refused to concede any points in a legal challenge taken by gender critical feminists, it is understood. It had until 4pm on Tuesday to respond to a legal challenge from grassroots group For Women Scotland. Lawyers for the government have now lodged a defence but have not conceded any points raised by the campaign group. The Scotsman first told last Wednesday that the Scottish Government intended to challenge the action from For Women Scotland. However, the group has said it is “disappointed but not surprised” the government has not backed down. Susan Smith, co-founder of For Women Scotland, said: “We are disappointed but not surprised that, for all John Swinney’s claims that he’s a man who respects the law, it seems the Scottish Government are still determined to ignore the Supreme Court and put very vulnerable women on prison and schoolgirls at risk. “Parents, especially, will be horrified that they refuse to safeguard their daughters.” Grassroots campaign group For Women Scotland won a Supreme court action against the Scottish ministers in April this year. The court’s judgment found the legal definition of “sex” to mean biological sex and not gender identity. Organisations across Scotland are still waiting for the government to produce updated guidance on single-sex spaces in light of that ruling. Given the delay to producing new guidance for schools and prisons, For Women Scotland sent a legal challenge to the Scottish Government last month giving it 21 days to respond. When there was no reply, FWS then lodged papers at the Court of Session with the government then having seven days in which to take action. The seven-day deadline expired on Tuesday at 4pm with the government taking its response time right to the wire. Current government guidance allows for biological males who identify as women to be housed in women’s prisons. It also permits the sharing of toilets and changing facilities by both boys and girls in Scottish schools. The legal challenge brought by For Women Scotland specifically deals with the guidance in these two settings. However, the government will have to provide further guidance for workplaces, healthcare settings and other public settings. Lisa Mackenzie of the policy think tank Murray Blackburn Mackenzie said: “It beggars belief that the Scottish Government is so determined to house violent men in women’s prisons and deny school children single-sex protections that it is prepared to flout the rule of law to do so.” A Scottish Government spokeswoman reissued a statement given to The Scotsman last Wednesday. It reads: “The Scottish Government has made clear it accepts the Supreme Court ruling and is taking forward the detailed work necessary. “It would be inappropriate to comment on live court proceedings.”