A female newspaper editor has hit back at JK Rowling after the best-selling author branded her title “anti-woman.”

The Harry Potter author criticised The National over an article branding campaigners seeking to uphold the recent Supreme Court judgement on biological sex as “anti trans.”

It follows the intervention of a group called Sex Matters in support of legal action by For Women Scotland against the Scottish Government, claiming ministers are failing to implement the judgement in equalities law.

The National covered the story under the headline “Sex Matters considers new legal action against Scottish Government,” describing them in the copy as “an anti-trans campaign group.”

Although the headline had not referred directly to For Women Scotland, it prompted a tweet in defence of the organisation from Ms Rowling, who has been heavily involved in the campaign to protect women’s-only spaces and highlight the importance of biological sex.

She posted: “For Women Scotland is a feminist campaigning group. You appear to be an anti-woman newspaper.”

Editor of the The National Laura Webster, pictured, described the author’s comment as “frankly ridiculous.”

Laura, who heads a largely female editorial team, set out a detailed response in an opinion piece published the following day.

Wrote Laura: “This week JK Rowling launched an attack on The National, describing us as an “anti-woman newspaper”.

“She made this claim because we ran an article, and have run many articles previously, describing groups like Sex Matters as “anti-trans”.

“I would like to take the opportunity to defend this newspaper against Rowling’s frankly ridiculous description, and explain why “anti-trans” is indeed suitable language for these activists.

“Sex Matters is an organisation which spends most of its time trying to keep trans women out of all women’s spaces. Its recent campaigning includes attacking Westminster Council for displaying Pride flags during Pride Month, and arguing that schools should not teach children that people can transition.”

“The National is led by a woman, with a female assistant editor. On staff, we have more women working as reporters than men. An equal number of men and women write columns for us.

“For the 2024 International Women’s Day, an all-women team produced the newspaper. Everything from the front page to the sports section was written and edited by women. It was the first time this had been done in the Scottish media in my own lifetime.

“Thankfully, arguments like Rowling’s will not convince many people who are not already deep down the anti-trans rabbit hole. But her attempts to control our language are not welcome and should be called out by those who claim to value free speech.

“At The National we deal in truth, and will not be cowed by a billionaire trying to control media output to fit her own worldview.”

However there was support for Ms Rowling from the For Women Scotland group itself.

It posted: “If the National thinks Women’s groups are anti-trans simply because we think women should have rights in law, then it’s not rocket science to conclude they are anti-women. Maybe Laura should tell her team?”

Ms Rowling later retweeted a post from American academic Prof Gary Francione, who wrote: “Sex Matters has as a primary goal to protect the existence of women as a sex class. I would say that goal is about as feminist as it gets.

“Your choosing to label it “anti-trans” would suggest that JK Rowling’s use of “anti-woman” was more than appropriate.”