Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 13 March 2019.
Joan McAlpine
Scottish National Party
I thank the Cabinet secretary for that answer, but I think that many people will be shocked to hear it. He will be aware that offending rates vary significantly according to biological sex, with males accounting for 84 per cent of violent crime and more than 95 per cent of sexual crime.
Longitudinal studies elsewhere suggest that male-pattern offending remains the same even if men self-declare themselves to be women. Does the cabinet secretary agree with criminologists that, if data shows a rise in female sex offending, for example, including rape, that is misleading when those crimes are actually committed by men?
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
