Scotland: John Swinney reportedly set to U-turn on Nicola Sturgeon’s conversion therapy ban

Scotland’s first minister John Swinney is reportedly planning to U-turn on Nicola Sturgeon’s plans for a Scottish ban on conversion therapy and instead will back the UK government’s policy on the issue.

In an exclusive story for The Herald by political correspondent Kathleen Nutt, the publication claims it has been told by sources that the Scottish FM will not include a ban on conversion practices in the devolved nation’s upcoming programme of government.

Rather, the Scottish government at Holyrood will back a ‘four nations’ approach to a ban and support UK government legislation applying in Scotland.

Keir Starmer’s Labour government included a ban on conversion therapy – abhorrent practices which seek to forcibly change a person’s sexuality and/or gender identity – in the King’s Speech in July after a landslide victory in the 2024 general election.

It was the third time ban on conversion therapy was promised in a monarch’s speech – the first two times being under the previous Conservative government.

Swinney previously spoke to PinkNews at Edinburgh Pride – an event which saw him stand behind an ‘End Conversion Practices!’ banner – where he said he wants Scotland to be an “inclusive society” in which “we make sure that those who are marginalised are able to be brought into the heart of society and be well supported and well cared for”.

“I certainly rail against the fact that some politicians are trying to turn minorities into enemies and I want nothing to do with that,” he said at the time.

The Herald’s reporting states that the Scottish ban on conversion therapy, for which a public consultation was opened in January, was scrapped in order to avoid an internal row in the Scottish National Party (SNP) after the backlash to the Gender Recognition Reform (GRR) bill.

That legislation sought to make it make it easier for trans folks to obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) and lower the age it was available from 18 to 16.

The bill was passed in December 2022 in a 86-39 vote but in January 2023 the former UK government led by Rishi Sunak undertook the unprecedented move to block the legislation from becoming law by using a Section 35 order under the 1998 Scotland Act.

At the time, Scottish secretary Alister Jack said the decision was made because the Tories believed the gender reform law “would have an adverse impact on the operation of Great Britain-wide equalities legislation” and those impacts included “the operation of single-sex clubs, associations, and schools and protections such as equal pay”.

Prior to The Herald’s publication, campaign group End Conversion Therapy Scotland had issued a statement in which they urged the Scottish government to outlaw the practices and “bring this terrible abuse of our community to an end”.

“We are concerned that any further delays to a bill being introduced risks this issue being subjected to the same campaign of disinformation faced by Gender Recognition Reform, and delaying into 2025-26 risks becoming a political football ahead of the 2026 election, once again putting our community in the spotlight and our lives, safety, and dignity up for debate,” the group wrote.

“The LGBTQ+ community deserve better,” the statement added, saying it is “past time that words and promises became action”.

PinkNews has approached the SNP for comment.