Douglas Ross has vehemently denied sacking his justice spokesman for supporting the Scottish Government’s controversial gender reforms.
The Scottish Tory leader said it was “absolutely not” the case that Jamie Greene had been “punished” for voting for the Gender Recognition Reform Bill at the end of 2022.
Mr Greene said last month that he was “probably” axed from the Conservative front bench at Holyrood for his position on the legislation.
The West of Scotland MSP said it was “hard to take it any other way” than as payback.
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Although Mr Ross gave his MSPs a free vote on the legislation, he and most of his party strongly opposed it and backed the UK Government’s later veto of the Bill.
Mr Greene questioned whether it had been a “true free vote”, adding: “I actually wasn’t given a reason [for being sacked], to be quite honest. Not face to face anyway.”
The Bill was intended to quicken and simplify the process for trans people to obtain legal recognition of their new gender and reduce the minimum age from 18 to 16.
Critics said that replacing a medical diagnosis with self-declaration of gender opened the system to abuse by bad actors, and undermined single-sex spaces.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland ahead of a speech on the economy today, Mr Ross was asked if Mr Greene’s support for the GRR Bill has cost him his job.
Mr Ross replied: “Well that's not the case.
“I had a discussion with Jamie as I did with all 30 of my other colleagues during the reshuffle over a couple of days.
“But these are discussions that we have between party colleagues and I understand people's disappointment if they don't continue in roles that they were previously in.
“Of course, reshuffles also allowed me the opportunity to bring new talent into the shadow cabinet as well.”
Asked if the GRR Bill had really been a free vote for the Tories given Mr Greene’s sacking six months later, Mr Ross said: “Absolutely.
“I was the only party leader to offer a free vote on this issue, and members voted according to their conscience and how they viewed the evidence in front of them.”
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Asked about Greene’s belief that he was “being punished for his stance on gender”, Mr Ross said: “No, absolutely not. Reshuffles allow some new people to come into senior positions but sadly therefore some people have to move out.
“And that's what happens in every single reshuffle in every single party.”
After the GRR was passed in December, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack blocked it from becoming law by making an unprecedented order under Section 35 of the Scotland Act.
The Scottish Government is seeking to have that order set aside through a judicial review action at the Court of Session next month.
Mr Greene was replaced in June as justice spokesman by MSP Russelll Findlay.
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