At the very end of last year, moments before the Scottish Parliament shut its doors, the SNP Government passed the highly controversial Gender Recognition Reform (GRR) Bill.
It was a contentious bill that contained many parts that split opinion across the Scottish Parliament and all of Scotland.
A majority of the public were onside with the idea that trans people should be able to change gender without going through an extremely difficult process.
But this support did not extend to the SNP’s GRR Bill, which went too far in removing important safeguards that protect women & girls and single sex spaces.
People are appalled that women’s rights and safety have been put at risk so recklessly.
Recent polls have indicated that an overwhelming number of people were against three main parts of the SNP’s bill. Firstly, the proposals to lower the age of consent. Secondly, the introduction of a process of self-ID without any medical involvement. Thirdly, the reduction of the time that applicants must live in their proposed gender down to just three months.
I was one of the Scottish Conservatives on the parliament committee that scrutinised the bill and I did everything I possibly could to highlight that people were against so much of Nicola Sturgeon’s bill.
For months, I worked constructively with colleagues and gathered evidence to demonstrate the deep problems that the bill would raise.
But the process was rigged by the SNP and Greens. They shut down debate at every turn. They refused to listen to women.
I was on the Scottish Parliament Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee from the beginning of this bill’s passage, so I know how flawed the legislative process was and how badly it was skewed by powerful activists for ideological reasons.
I saw first-hand on that committee that issues related to women’s safety, including access to single-sex spaces, were being dismissed or even worse, ignored.
Evidence was taken from a selective, hand-picked group of organisations. The whole parliamentary process was rushed through without fully considering all viewpoints. The parties pushing this bill refused to take the proper depth and breadth of relevant information from key stakeholders.
For instance, it was only at the 11th hour, within a week of the bill passing, that the Scottish Parliament finally took some evidence from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem.
I was delighted to speak with Ms Alsalem at length to hear her expertise and use that information to inform the law making process, which is what every MSP should have done.
She spoke eloquently about her fears that sexual predators could exploit the GRR Bill to gain access to women’s single-sex spaces and services, for instance domestic abuse shelters or women’s only prisons.
Regrettably, my concerns, the concerns of women across Scotland, and the concerns of international experts were rejected as “not valid”, in Nicola Sturgeon’s words.
In the end, Labour and the Lib Dems teamed up with the SNP to pass the GRR Bill without even giving their MSPs a free vote on the issue, so they could make up their own minds.
Instead, the party leaders, Anas Sarwar and Alex Cole-Hamilton, forced their own opinions on all of their MSPs and made them back the bill.
They supported it wholeheartedly at every stage despite the SNP rejecting common sense changes that would have hugely improved the bill.
For instance, my party fought hard to prevent sex offenders from being able to change gender. When I speak to local people about this, they think it’s mad that anyone would allow convicted abusers to change gender. These dangerous criminals will exploit any loophole they can to attack victims, especially women.
The Scottish Conservatives brought forward amendments that would have stopped heinous individuals abusing the new process.
But the SNP voted against those amendments and, despite rebellion from within their own ranks, the bill passed with the help of Labour and the Lib Dems.
It is nothing short of shameful to put women’s safety at risk in this manner. Even if one woman is attacked because of this bill, that is one too many.
I was also dismayed that my own amendments, which sought to protect fundamental rights, were also defeated by the SNP.
The changes I submitted were straightforward and sensible. They only sought to give women assurances that they would be safe, particularly in single-sex spaces and at single-sex services, and protect the rights of religious people, especially from BAME communities.
My amendments would have protected single-sex spaces from abuse and ensured that dangerous criminals could not fraudulently exploit single-sex services.
These changes to the bill were essential, so that survivors were protected from suffering additional trauma and vulnerable women were not exposed to higher levels of risk.
But all of those voices were silenced by the SNP, with the help of Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
I hope none of our worst fears about this bill come to pass. But I will forever be bitterly disappointed that those other parties in the Scottish Parliament were so willing to risk women’s safety and fundamental rights.