'Anybody who commits the most heinous of male crimes against women forfeits the right to choose their gender'

Sturgeon performs self-ID controversy U-turn

- BY CHRIS MCCALL

NICOLA Sturgeon has finally admitted that trans rapist Isla Bryson is a “biological male" and said men who commit rape should not be allowed to declare themselves female.

The former SNP leader waded back into one of the most controversial episodes of her political career during the high-profile interview with ITV News to promote the publication of her political memoir, Frankly, this week.

Sturgeon has previously refused to refer to Bryson originally known as Adam Graham as a man when challenged on the predator's sex crimes.

The issue of self-identification was at the heart of the Gender Recognition Reform (GRR) Bill, which Sturgeon championed before it was blocked from becoming law by the UK Government in 2023. Bryson was jailed in February 2023 after being convicted of raping two women while living as a man.

The rapist was sent to a women's jail after identifying as female prompting huge uproar from opposition parties and women's rights campaigners.

They were later moved to a men's wing at HMP Edinburgh.

The row was one of the last acts of Sturgeon's premiership before she announced her intention to resign as first minister, prompting a bitter SNP leadership battle to replace her.

Speaking with ITV News presenter Julie Etchingham, Sturgeon admitted she should have “been much more straightforward” on the matter.

Etchingham said: “You became unstuck over the questions about the transgender prisoner, the rapist, Isla Bryson. Why couldn't you answer that question?”