THE SNP member who leaked conversations between three senior MSPs criticising Nicola Sturgeon over gender reforms has broken their silence over the revelations.

The activist, who spoke to the Herald on Sunday on condition of anonymity, said they were horrified to see the chats between Ash Denham, Ruth Maguire and Gillian Martin, and wanted the public to know the truth.

We can also reveal the police have dismissed any suggestion of criminality over the leaked discussion, and say their inquiry into the matter has now closed.

It is understood that community safety minister Ash Denham had failed to change her social media password for a number of years, giving several current and former employees access to her Twitter which is how the conversations were leaked.

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The SNP member responsible for leaking the conversation said: "When I opened up my Twitter, it is the first time I have been on that specific application for a long time. I was adding a new account on to it for business purposes and I noticed all these messages that were not mine.

"I read them and couldn't believe it.

"I was really shocked, particularly that Ash [Denham] was involved, and what they were saying about Nicola. It is now government ministers having these views, even though we were elected on a manifesto which supported GRA reform.

"The reforms are what we stood on, and if people are not happy with it, this is not the job for them.

"I have had enough of it. I have friends who are transitioning and seeing how much they struggle every day. The comments they get online, and when they go out...It has become so toxic and I felt that people needed to see what was happening.

"Our government is in a position that they can make things easier for people who are transgender.

"I reached out to Jordon [Henderson] as I know he has been vocal about the issue, and passed him the conversation. I didn't commit a crime - I had permitted access to the account through Ash Denham. She hadn't changed her password, obviously, and there are quite a lot of people who have access to it.

"I cannot believe that HQ have basically ignored these discussions, and done nothing about it. They've kept quiet, so have the three people involved. They've also completely wasted police time when they knew, it was almost an open secret, how these messages were accessed."

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Mr Henderson, an SNP activist and former employee of Ash Denham, published the discussion on April 16, prompting calls for the SNP and Ms Sturgeon in particular to clarify their stance on the GRA reforms.

Last week, the three MSPs reported the leak to Police Scotland.

The highly polarised debate has now become "toxic" according to the party member who leaked the conversation.

It is understood the party's equalities convener Fiona Robertson was forced to have security at last week's SNP conference due to concerns over her welfare.

SNP HQ were notified that party members had circulated the conference agenda and mapped out where Robertson would be so they could confront her over her views on the GRA proposals.

The Scottish Government pledged to reform the Gender Recognition Act to be more inclusive of transgender people but critics have argued doing so will impact on the rights of non-transgender women and girls.

Critics say that by being able to self-declare your gender or non-binary status, services and safe places for women would no longer be safe.

An SNP spokesperson refused to respond to the specific comments and concerns raised, but said: "Trans men and women are amongst the most stigmatised groups in our society, and they deserve to know that their government is working to change that.

"Nobody raising genuine concerns over women's rights should face knee jerk accusations of transphobia. That is why we want to encourage a respectful debate and to ensure we understand and address concerns.

"It's important to ensure that Scotland is a place where trans people - particularly the many young trans people - who struggle to feel safe can be secure and accepted.”

None of the three MSPs involved in the conversation responded to our request for comment.