At the start of this year, before public authorities were stretched by the COVID crisis and emergency regulations were introduced, @HumzaYousaf made a startling claim which caught my attention. He said that, with the proper safeguards in place, transmen could be accommodated ...

... in men's prisons after a conviction. That's people born female, in a men's prison.

With solitary confinement deemed a cruel and unusual punishment outlawed by human rights, I could not conceive of any situation where such an administrative decision would be a good idea.

Yousaf is the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in the Scottish Government @scotgov He is responsible for ensuring prisoner safety in Scotland.

Not only did he claim it *could* happen, he said it did happen.

I don't know about you but I mean it when I say that we need a calm and rational discussion of conflicting rights in the gender debates.

I was surprised by Yousaf's claim but I respect the office of Justice Secretary. As I ought: I served his predecessor for four years.

In that time I acquired an insight into the weight of responsibilities for making finely balanced decisions that rests on the shoulders of a Justice Minister and the earnest diligence they and their officials apply to their decision making.

In short, I believed him.

So I submitted a Freedom of Information request.

How often had this happened? When did it start? What prisoner safeguarding policies were needed? What was the evidence underpinning those policies? what measures of success were in place? How was the situation monitored?

Evidence of the claim would make me rethink single sex spaces. It would have to: that's why why we debate.

The policy absurdity of housing female people in men's prisons had been a foundation of my prior negative conclusions, to which I invited evidenced demolition.

Yousaf's claim made me sit up.

Go on, then, I'd said. Convince me.

The issue was live and pertinent, under scrutiny, subject to public consultation, especially in Scotland, where the government had taken a particularly intransigent stance.

I was ready to change my mind.

The Scottish Government refused to answer my request for information.

Any of it.

I asked them to review their decision.

They refused to review their decision.

They failed to provide any reason for either refusal.

The Cabinet Secreatry for Justice should not be making bullsh!t claims without any evidence on matters of import to his portfolio.

It is an abuse of office.

I am now submitting a complaint to the Information Commissioner for Scotland and have just completed the registration.

As a matter of courtesy, I have informed the Scottish Government.

They have written to say they have appointed a case handler to look into it all.

Too late. Far too late.