Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tonight backed JK Rowling after she dared police to arrest her under controversial new hate crime laws.
As the legislation came into force in Scotland, the Harry Potter author issued a flurry of social media posts declaring that a string of trans women were men.
The SNP's Hate Crime Act has been widely condemned amid fears it could be used for political purposes. It introduces offences for threatening or abusive behaviour intended to stir up hatred, which in Scotland previously applied only to race, and includes a possible seven-year jail sentence.
Ms Rowling, a prominent gender-identity critic, included trans campaigners and other individuals in her tweets, referring to them as women.
But she ended the thread by saying: 'April Fools! Only kidding. Obviously, the people mentioned in the above tweets aren't women at all, but men, every last one of them.'
The author, who lives in Edinburgh, added: 'Freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal.
'I'm currently out of the country, but if what I've written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment.'
She signed it off with the hashtag #arrestme.
As the 58-year-old's comments whipped up a social media storm, the Prime Minister entered the row, saying: 'People should not be criminalised for stating simple facts on biology.
'We believe in free speech in this country, and Conservatives will always protect it.'
A Government source said: 'The SNP is taking Scotland down a very dangerous path, with potential for seriously chilling effects on free speech. We are clear that biological sex matters and gender-critical beliefs are protected in British law, and that won't change while the Conservatives are in government.'
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