I commend Tess White for securing the debate and for her excellent contribution.

As we celebrate Scottish women and girls in sport week, we must also, as many speakers have done, confront the critical issues that currently affect the future of women’s sport and the safety and rights of women and girls across all areas of life.

Although inclusion is a core value of our society, we must ensure that that does not come at the expense of fairness, safety or the integrity of women and girls, including in sports. One of the most pressing concerns is the impact of policies that allow biological males to compete in the female category. That issue was brought to the fore during the recent Paris Olympics, where the participation of male athletes led to severe concerns being raised about the safety and fairness of competition in the female category.

Physical differences between male and female athletes cannot be ignored. Studies have shown that male athletes have, on average, a significant advantage, which creates a fundamentally unequal playing field in women’s sport, where biological males have the potential to outcompete female athletes.

The safety of women and girls is crucial. In contact sports such as boxing, rugby and mixed martial arts, the inclusion of biological males poses significant physical risks to female athletes. The UN’s 2024 report has been extensively quoted, but it is no bad thing to repeat the statistic that males have, on average, 162 per cent more punching power than females. If everyone watching this debate takes away only that statistic, that would not be a bad thing. Allowing male-born athletes to compete in the female categories of those types of sports not only puts women and girls at significant disadvantage in competition, but risks their personal safety.

It is crucial to repeat—as I have done many times here in the past few months—that gender self-identification is not the law in Scotland. Scottish law has not changed, despite pressure from the Government and others to adopt self-ID in various areas, including sport. Those protections must be rigorously defended if the integrity and fairness of competition in sport are to be upheld. The right for women and girls to compete in a fair and safe environment should be protected by policies that do not allow male-born athletes—with the physical advantages that they retain—to self-identify into female categories.

The on-going debate within governing bodies, such as World Athletics, FINA and World Rugby, reflects the growing recognition and acknowledgement of the impact that such policies have on women’s sport. In an acknowledgement of the risks to fairness and safety, some governing bodies have already moved to prevent transgender women from competing in female categories.

As we look ahead to the Glasgow Commonwealth games in 2026, we have a unique opportunity to inspire women and girls to participate in sport. The world will be watching us and we must ensure that the opportunities remain fair and safe for female athletes. Leaders such as Judy Murray have worked tirelessly to promote girls’ participation in sport. We can build on that legacy by protecting single-sex categories at all levels of competition, and I will be interested in hearing what the Government is doing to ensure that for 2026.

The consequences of not addressing the risk to female sport go beyond the immediate risk to the physical safety of women and girls. If their safety, dignity and aspirations cannot be assured, the very inclusion of women and girls in sport is at risk.