Liz Truss book: Former prime minister claims she stopped self-id in England, says gender reform block contributed to Nicola Sturgeon resignation

Liz Truss made the comments in her new book, Ten Years To Save The West

Liz Truss has claimed she stopped self-ID in England as she suggested the blocking of the Gender Recognition Reform legislation contributed to Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation.

The former prime minister labelled self-ID – a policy blocked in Scotland by the UK government – as “woke” and also blamed the Equality Act for a host of problems faced by her government.

Writing in her new book, Ten Years to Save the West, the UK’s shortest-lived leader also took issue with education standards in Scotland.

Former prime minister Liz Truss criticised the former First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.

Discussing self-ID, Ms Truss wrote: “I eventually got self-ID reversed through a statement I delivered in the House of Commons. There was a lot of support from women’s right activists and the predictable backlash from the left. Slowly, the tide was turning.

"Eighteen months later, the Scottish Government was not able to progress its own woke plans due to a public outcry over the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill that contributed to the downfall of then first minister Nicola Sturgeon.

“The Bill, which was passed by the Scottish Parliament, would have allowed Scottish citizens to legally change their gender at 16 without the diagnosis of gender dysphoria by a doctor. More importantly, they could have applied for the change after living as their new gender for just three months,

“The furore over the case of the biologically male double rapist Isla Bryson, who was originally incarcerated in Scottish women’s prison and only transitioned after being charged, shone a light on how dangerous wokeism had become.

"A lot of the problems we faced were due to the Equality Act 2010, which was passed in the dying days of the last Labour government. This piece of legislation enshrined in law the left-wing concept of identity-based politics”.

Ms Sturgeon resigned in February last year, with gender reform legislation later blocked by the UK government through the use of a section 35 order. There were also harsh words for the SNP over education, with Ms Truss comparing rising standards in England unfavourably with those in Scotland.

She wrote: “This marked improvement was in contrast to the situation in Scotland, where the Government run by the Scottish National Party has squandered the country’s previous excellence in education, and has seen its maths scores drop to the lowest level ever in 2022.”

The extracts follow a series of interviews promoting the book, in which Ms Truss has called for the UK to leave the European Court of Human Rights, for the Bank of England governor to be sacked, and for the abolition of the Supreme Court, the Human Rights Act, the United Nations, the Environment Agency, and Natural England.

Ms Truss also refused to rule out being Tory leader again, telling LBC she had “unfinished business”. She said: “Well, it’s never wise to rule anything out in politics, is it?”

Elsewhere, Ms Truss signalled she was supportive of Donald Trump returning to the White House, suggesting it “has to be” him following the US presidential election due to take place in November.

“I don’t think [President Joe] Biden has been particularly supportive to the United Kingdom,” she said. “I think he’s often on the side of the EU. And I certainly think I would like to see a new president in the White House.”

Asked if she meant Mr Trump, she added: “It has to be.”