The Welsh Government has been warned that their election gender equality plans could be unlawful.
Welsh Labour ministers have plans to ensure all political parties submit an equal gender balance of candidates. Therefore by law political parties may need at least half of their candidates to be women.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has warned the proposals could lead to self ID which could breach the 2010 Equality Act.
The EHRC says the proposals may lead to the inclusion of quotas based on a person's self-identified gender as opposed to their legal sex.
The EHRC has warned the proposals by Welsh Labour could lead to self ID which could breach the 2010 Equality Act
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The UK watchdog wrote to the Senedd Reform Committee saying the Bill may be inconsistent with the 2010 Equality Act.
It said: “We are concerned that the Bill appears to base eligibility for inclusion on the quota list, on candidates declarations on whether they’re a woman or not, and this in conjunction with the term ‘gender’ may be insufficiently clear.
“In short it may lead to the inclusion of quotas based on a person's self-identified gender as opposed to their legal sex".
John Kirkpatrick, the interim Chief Executive of the EHRC added that there was a lack of detail from the Welsh Government’s proposals “as to why gender was used as a term instead of sex and a lack of analysis of the potential impacts of this”.
Labour Women’s Declaration Cymru told GB News that their submission to the Senedd Reform Bill Committee said: "More or less exactly the same thing - using gender as a synonym for sex, as Welsh Government has done, doesn't work, because UK law uses 'sex' for rights under the Equality Act”.
Meanwhile a spokeswoman from Merched Cymru, a group campaigning to protect the sex-based rights of women and girls, said: “The deliberately vague references to 'gender statements' and complete lack of definitions is another attempt by Welsh Government to introduce self-ID in Wales.
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The UK watchdog wrote to the Senedd Reform Committee saying the Bill may be inconsistent with the 2010 Equality Act
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“This is completely unacceptable. Welsh Government has neither the power nor the public support to redefine what a woman is and we are appalled that they are prepared to waste time and money on pursuing this ideology through a law that will inevitably end in costly legal challenge.”
The Welsh Government has said political parties “will have an interest in ensuring that accurate statements are made – otherwise they run the risk of challenge.”
A Welsh Government spokesperson told GB News: “The Senedd Cymru (Electoral Candidate Lists) Bill aims to create a more effective Senedd by being more representative of Wales.
"Having a Senedd which better reflects the make-up of Wales is good for politics, good for representation and good for policy making.
“The gender quota rules have been designed to accord with the electoral system proposed in the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill and existing rules with regard to nominations, which involve candidates providing accurate personal information in nomination papers and returning officers accepting that information at face value.
"Parties and candidates will have an interest in ensuring that accurate statements are made – otherwise they run the risk of challenge.”
There has been cross party condemnation of the Bill. The Welsh Conservatives have also rejected the proposals.
Darren Millar MS, the Shadow Minister for the Constitution condemned the bill and said “voters should be allowed to choose candidates based on merit and not forced upon them by political parties with gender quotas."
He added: “While the Presiding Officer, legal scholars and watchdogs all agree that this Bill is potentially unlawful, the Labour Government are recklessly pushing ahead with it regardless.
“These gender quota plans need to be scrapped along with Labour and Plaid’s extremely costly plans for more politicians in the Senedd.”
The plans are part of a wider picture to reform the Senedd and increase the number of politicians from 60 to 96 - which has the backing of Plaid Cymru under the co-operation agreement.
Plaid Cymru has been approached for comment.
