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Reposted by Dr Amy Roberts

@mimmymum.bsky.social

Dear businesses,

If you get a threatening letter from anti-trans lobby group ‘Sex Matters’ trying to scare you into banning trans people under threat of legal action - ignore them!

Time and again they get embarrassed in court while cos-playing at being ‘experts’!

You don’t want to foot the bill!😬

Helen 🏳️‍⚧️✊🏻💕 @mimmymum.bsky.social · 7d

Remember when Helen Joyce was called out as "not an expert" by Australian courts - Now Maya Forstater has been told the same in the Peggie judgment! 👏👏👏

The judgement states outright that the evidence submitted by her & Sex Matters was “not skilled evidence.”

This is the Tribunal’s exact wording!

Highlighted paragraph: Evidence from Ms Forstater and Mx Valentine
1038. We turn to address the evidence from Ms Forstater and Mx Valentine,
which the parties had described as “research evidence”. That is not, so far
as we are aware, a term of law. Nothing was cited to support the use of
that term. It is not skilled evidence as explained below, and the parties
did not suggest that either witness was skilled or expert in that sense. It
was not necessarily inadmissible, given the terms of Rule 41, and until
read and considered the extent to which it might be relevant could not be
assessed, but the weight to attach to it was a different consideration

Highlighted sections: 1040. In many respects the evidence in the statements was more in the nature
of material for the public debate on wider issues as to what the law should
be, and on occasion it appeared to us to be polemic, rather than evidence
relevant to the issues at an Employment Tribunal.
1041. Opinion evidence was addressed in Walker and Walker on Evidence, Fifth
Edition (“Walker”), which explained the distinction between evidence of
fact, and of belief or opinion. Opinion evidence may be led from what
Walker describes as an ordinary witness (the classification of witnesses is
between ordinary and skilled), and examples of that are given.
Ms Forstater
1042. The statement from Ms Forstater was not presented as impartial evidence,
but specifically as one given in support of the claimant. It had at paragraph
10 an argument as to facts, of which Ms Forstater said that she was
certain. They are however we consider not facts, but expressions of her
opinion. The assertion at 10 (b) for example was “Sex is in general readily
perceptible and is salient to other people.” That we consider cannot be
other than her opinion, for which no support from any document in the
Supplementary Bundle appeared to be referred to in her written witness
statement. It was contradicted by other evidence, and the terms of a Note
issued by EJ Tinnion on 5 January 2025 in relation to the second
respondent. It did not appear to be an assertion related to the second
respondent in particular, but as a more general proposition.
1043. The assertion at (d) had a further series of propositions which were
opinions although presented as facts. If the 1992 Regulations,
then as discussed they are not within this Tribunal’s jurisdiction, and the
comment appears to be an argument over the policy of the law, or how the
law should be interpreted, neither of which are relevant evidence before
us.
1044. The sub-paragraphs include, by way of example, (ii) “women are in
general more fearful of men than men …

Highlighted sections:

That is again an expression of opinion without cross reference to any
document in the Supplementary Bundle. Sub-paragraph (v) was “unless
rules about single-sex spaces are clearly stated and enforced it leaves
women open to risk of sexual harassment and assault, and makes these
spaces feel unsafe.” That again is an expression of opinion. The witness
statement purports to expand on the comments at paragraph 10 stating
that the facts stated are true. In our view they are not reliable as evidence
from a person not a skilled witness on the propositions that are advanced.
1045. Where there was reference to documentation it is in our view both partial
and incomplete. Part of it is based on research undertaken by Sex Matters,
an organisation of which she is the Chief Executive Officer. It is a
campaigning organisation, as set out in paragraph 4. There is an obvious
risk that that research is impacted by the nature of it, which is not
suggested to be an independent academic study

.... In our view it would not be dealing with a case fairly or justly to rely
on expressions of opinion from a person campaigning on one side of the
argument on such an issue. We did not consider that the case of Connor
on which the claimant founded, cited above and which indicated that in
some situations evidence which was not expert in nature could be
sufficient, was applicable to such a matter.
1047. Our review of the literature referred to by Ms Forstater reveals that the
broad generalisations she seeks to take from it are not sufficiently
supported by the document or document founded on, both from the terms
of the document and the other documents in relation to the same broad
issue, to be treated as reliable evidence.

December 9, 2025 at 6:30 PM

Reposted by Dr Amy Roberts

Jess O'Thomson

@jessothomson.co.uk

Mini thread on the ET decision in Peggie

Top line: It says exactly what we have been saying for months. The decision of the Supreme Court was not to turn the Equality Act 2010 into a nationwide bathroom ban - regardless of how anti-trans organisations have sought to misrepresent the law.

🧵👇

December 8, 2025 at 3:21 PM

Reposted by Dr Amy Roberts

Jess O'Thomson

@jessothomson.co.uk

If the reporting on the Peggie decision tells us anything, it should be that the way news gets reported in this country has little to do with truth, and much more to do with narrative - as well as whose heavily spun press release lands on journos desks first.

December 8, 2025 at 5:28 PM

Reposted by Dr Amy Roberts

Jolyon Maugham KC

@goodlawproject.org

This is a real disaster for those - pretty much the entirety of the British media - advancing a maximalist reading of the For (Some) Women Scotland decision.

796. Thirdly, the claimant’s contention was in our view not consistent with the court’s comment that “we have concluded that a biological sex interpretation would not have the effect of disadvantaging or removing important protection under the EA 2010 from trans people (whether with or without a GRC).” 797. After that comment the court explained that a person with gender reassignment as a protected characteristic could pursue a claim of direct or indirect discrimination, or of harassment, if the circumstances so warranted. There was no qualification to it to the effect that that was not applicable in, for example, the context of a single sex space under Part 5 of the Act. If their decision had been that all trans persons must be excluded from the changing rooms or toilets for the sex they identify with because it was not the sex assigned at birth, and may also be excluded from the changing rooms or toilets of their biological sex, that in our view certainly does impact on their rights under section 7. 798. Were the claimant’s contention to be correct that would have the effect of materially reducing the extent to which that protected characteristic could be relied on by trans persons, to their disadvantage. What was desired by the trans person when living their life may not be permitted in a large number of practical instances, and would not have been consistent with the view expressed by Lady Hale in Work and Pensions, and the line of authority in relation to human rights. Such a construction in our view would also not be consistent with the interpretation of the Equal Treatment Directive from the CJEU and its predecessor as referred to above, which remains as assimilated law, and would not be consistent with a purposive interpretation still required. The development of the law in relation to what is now the protected characteristic of gender reassignment is set out above. At the very least we would have expected these considerations to have been addressed speci…

December 8, 2025 at 2:24 PM

Reposted by Dr Amy Roberts

Jolyon Maugham KC

@goodlawproject.org

Also worth noting, the Tribunal found that Sandie Peggie had harassed Dr Beth Upton in a "hate incident".

December 8, 2025 at 5:08 PM

Reposted by Dr Amy Roberts

Jolyon Maugham KC

@goodlawproject.org

Oooft. Sandie Peggie shared highly offensive messages and was then "untruthful" in giving evidence to the Tribunal.

This is the 'hero' Gender Critical campaigners have chosen.

631. The third aspect was her evidence given when recalled in relation to a message she had passed on to her group of friends which related to floods in Pakistan in the most highly offensive terms. She initially described the messages as “dark humour”. Her evidence later was that the message had been sent to provoke a reaction, in broad summary. We did not consider that latter evidence to be credible given the content of the message sent and her initial evidence about it. In our view it was an untruthful attempt to downplay what she had done, which she recognised as having included very offensive material. We consider that it was clear beyond serious argument that the author or authors of the original message considered the remarks humorous, and that the claimant had also considered them humorous which was why she had passed them on. That was supported in our view by her reference to dark humour

December 8, 2025 at 2:34 PM

Dr Amy Roberts

@ar387.bsky.social

New UK wind power supply record and doesn't include my off grid 6KwH turbine which has been very productive this month #WindPower #Electric #NationalGrid
news.sky.com/story/new-re...

New record for wind-powered electricity in Britain

The National Energy System Operator (Neso) has predicted Britain could hit another milestone in the months ahead by running the grid for a period entirely with zero carbon power, renewables and nuclea...

news.sky.com

November 19, 2025 at 10:41 PM

Dr Amy Roberts

@ar387.bsky.social

Please use the crowdsourced #UKSnowMap keep it updated, as helps everyone. Just use the hashtag and the first part of postcode and a rating no snow "1" all the way to "10" blizzard, heavy snow on ground uksnowmap.com
In Scotland also check the webcams www.snowgatecameras.co.uk

UK Snow Map

See where it is snowing in the UK right now! UK Snow Map uses #uksnow posts to draw an up-to-the-minute map of where it is currently snowing in the UK.

uksnowmap.com

November 19, 2025 at 2:19 PM

Reposted by Dr Amy Roberts

Juliet Wilson (Crafty Green Poet)

@craftygreenpoet.bsky.social

Good to see that butterfly numbers have increased this year at Lauriston Farm, Edinburgh's Agroecology project, you can read their report here www.lauristonfarm.scot/news/results...

Results of the Butterfly Survey 2025 | Lauriston Farm

www.lauristonfarm.scot

November 9, 2025 at 4:20 PM

Dr Amy Roberts

@ar387.bsky.social

I need this device in my life
xkcd.com/2979/
#xkcd

November 3, 2025 at 7:09 PM

Dr Amy Roberts

@ar387.bsky.social

Well done the Python Foundation for rejecting the Trump administrations anti DEI policies and turning down this grant that banned equality programmes and has hideous claw back consequences. www.theregister.com/2025/10/27/p...

Python Foundation rejects $1.5M grant with no-DEI strings

: Foundation says it won't compromise policy of inclusivity even if that cash would've really helped

www.theregister.com

October 29, 2025 at 12:03 AM

Dr Amy Roberts

@ar387.bsky.social

After having two days of bumper wind power production and even after being woken up at 4am by the wind. Just 16.4kW produced in the last 24 hours.

October 27, 2025 at 8:16 AM

Dr Amy Roberts

@ar387.bsky.social

Woke up early due to the wind and just saw the International Space Station (ISS) brightly pass in the early sunrise sky. Always great to see.

October 27, 2025 at 6:05 AM

Dr Amy Roberts

@ar387.bsky.social

Blood donation 🩸 done, new sticker to add to the laptop.

A sticker of a blood bag nearly full with red blood with the writing "Proud to be a blood donor" on it ...also Give Blood with two red hearts as the Os in blood.

October 26, 2025 at 12:06 PM

Dr Amy Roberts

@ar387.bsky.social

First time I have back2back days of over 50kW wind power produced off the Proven 6kW turbine. Total for last 24hrs = 50.8kW

Which also means a new record for 2 consecutive days total 56.4+50.8 = 107.2kW (previous best = 101.2kW)

#Offgrid #WindPower #OffgridStats #OGS25

October 26, 2025 at 8:34 AM

Reposted by Dr Amy Roberts

Jonathan Elmer - Green Party Spokesperson for Nature

@jonathanelmer.bsky.social

UK NATURE'S RIGHTS BILL LAUNCHED IN PARLIAMENT TODAY

The bill reclassifies nature as a SUBJECT of law, with legal personhood.

It recognises that neither humans or economies can exist without nature.

This profound but positive disruption is needed NOW.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

UK campaigners launch bill to give nature legal rights

Private member’s bill backed by Chris Packham and Natalie Bennett would impose a duty of care on government and business

www.theguardian.com

October 24, 2025 at 5:50 PM

Reposted by Dr Amy Roberts

Helen 🏳️‍⚧️✊🏻💕

@mimmymum.bsky.social

More and more women are calling out the small faction of ‘gender critical’ transphobes as the fauxminists they are!

Obvs the moment they do that, they attract the JKR flying monkeys!

Bravo to Kirstie Allsop for standing firm in her trans-allyship 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Kirstie Allsopp @KirstieMAllsopp•2d$...
Loathing & fearing transwomen is a sad way to lead your life, but it's also a massive red herring, across the globe women's rights are being eroded Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, in many places we are going backwards. If only the (dinosaur emoji) & (suffragette coloured hearts emojis)
really focused on women's rights.

October 25, 2025 at 11:00 AM

Dr Amy Roberts

@ar387.bsky.social

While waiting for new front tyres to be fitted. I walked into Montrose for 1st time
Ink and Quill bookshop is awesome www.facebook.com/share/1BfYCe... purchased a couple of books, as always want to keep indie bookshops open.
Also Montrose has a great vinyl record shop

The front covers of two books on a wooden table. Left a larger book is Archaeology and Early History of Angus. It has a Pictish carved stone in a field on the cover. The book on the right is the small walking guide Scotland's Best Small Mountains.

October 25, 2025 at 4:43 PM

Dr Amy Roberts

@ar387.bsky.social

The last 24 hours have been my best wind generation since moving to Scotland in April.
I have produced 56.4kW off my little 6kW turbine.
The overnight winds were strong, I needed to rescue bins and full pots into sheds at 3am

October 25, 2025 at 6:35 AM

Dr Amy Roberts

@ar387.bsky.social

"The latest European Red List assessments reveal serious challenges, with threats mounting for butterflies and crucial wild bee species" Dr Grethel Aguilar, IUCN director general
#Butterfly #Lepidoptera #RedList

op.europa.eu/en/publicati...

European red list of butterflies - Publications Office of the EU

This European Red List provides an updated summary of the conservation status of the European species of butterflies, evaluated according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria (IUCN, 2012a) and...

op.europa.eu

October 14, 2025 at 7:50 PM

Reposted by Dr Amy Roberts

Claire's Trans Talks

@clairestranstalks.bsky.social

Its time the NHS stopped lying to trans people seeking help.

Wait times listed on GIC websites are how long people have already waited.

They do not estimated wait times, and you can see why..

What The Trans?! 🏳️‍⚧️ @whatthetrans.com · Oct 7

Gender Identity Clinic's Waiting Lists from Shortest To Longest

October 7, 2025 at 4:42 PM

Reposted by Dr Amy Roberts

Open Data Camp

@odcamp.uk

Open Data Camp 10: Edinburgh is done! Until next time (maybe 😉 ).

In the meantime. do check out @drawnalism.com's output from the afternoon sessions - www.odcamp.uk/open-data-ca...

“That’s all folks!”

#opendata #odcamp