Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 23 December 2020
23 Dec 2020 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Scottish General Election (Coronavirus) Bill
I, too, thank everyone who was involved in pulling the bill together, and I am grateful for all the cross-party engagement that took place throughout its progress. I should give a special thank you to my colleagues Alex Rowley and Neil Findlay, who did most of the leg work on the bill. As with the UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Bill yesterday, I just came in at the latter stages for some of the glory at the end—the hard work was done by others, and I thank them for that.
The key point of the bill is to make sure that people feel confident to go out and vote in May, that it is safe for them to do so, and that it is safe for those who are conducting the election. I hope that we can deliver on those aims.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Lewis Macdonald)
Lab
The next item of business is a debate on motion S5M-23768, in the name of Graeme Dey, on the Scottish General Election (Coronavirus) Bill. 15:25
The Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans (Graeme Dey)
SNP
The events of the past few days have underlined the uncertainty that is involved in responding to the virus and the merits of contingency planning. In that t...
Miles Briggs (Lothian) (Con)
Con
I am pleased to take part in the stage 3 debate. I thank all those organisations that have provided useful briefings for today’s debate and earlier stages of...
Anas Sarwar (Glasgow) (Lab)
Lab
I, too, thank everyone who was involved in pulling the bill together, and I am grateful for all the cross-party engagement that took place throughout its pro...
Graeme Dey
SNP
At stage 2, Anas Sarwar raised issues around the practicalities of polling stations. I hope that he finds it useful that I have reached agreement with the el...
Anas Sarwar
Lab
I thank the minister for his intervention. I was going to raise the issue of polling places. I gave the minister the example of the First Minister’s constitu...
Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green)
Green
Once again, I note my appreciation of the cross-party dialogue that there has been in the production of the bill. I will not go quite as far as Miles Briggs ...
Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD)
LD
I, too, thank the minister, members, clerks and officials, who have worked so hard to bring us to this point, at breakneck speed. Like others, I note that w...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
Maureen Watt will be the only speaker in the open debate. 15:48
Maureen Watt (Aberdeen South and North Kincardine) (SNP)
SNP
I am pleased that there has been consensus around the necessity of this fast-tracked bill. When I spoke in the stage 1 debate a few short weeks ago, we had j...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
That was a popular contribution. We move to closing speeches. 15:51
Alex Rowley (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
Lab
From the outset of our discussions with the Government, I have always been very clear that Labour’s position was that the election must go ahead. The only pe...
Graeme Dey
SNP
The member has had my assurance on that and, what is more, he has seen that demonstrated. I know that he is a very reasonable man, and I hope that he will ac...
Alex Rowley
Lab
That is welcome—it was a demand that I had been putting forward. Democracy needs to prevail. People need to be able to go and vote, and to be able to do so ...
Adam Tomkins (Glasgow) (Con)
Con
When I first saw the bill, I had only two concerns about it. I thought that it was, by and large, a sensible and prudent measure. My concerns were simply tha...
Graeme Dey
SNP
The bill on which we will vote in a few minutes’ time is, as Miles Briggs and other members have said, the result of constructive and collaborative working. ...