Meeting of the Parliament 04 February 2026
Although I utterly respect Edward Mountain’s perspective on the matter of assisted dying, I gently remind him that we are seeking tonight not to pass the bill, but to facilitate some of the concerns that exist around it. If he will bear with me, I will go through the matter in a bit of detail, because he raises important issues. I hope that, by the time that I have finished, members will have a better understanding of those issues.
Thank you, Presiding Officer, for allowing me the opportunity to speak about the draft Scotland Act 1998 (Modification of Schedule 5) Order 2026. I am also grateful to the Parliament for choosing to consider the order in such a timely fashion.
As members know, following Liam McArthur’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill passing the stage 1 vote in May, the Scottish Government committed to engaging with the UK Government to try to resolve the legislative competence issues that were identified with the bill. That was to allow members to make their decisions on whether or not to pass the bill based on their own convictions and those of their constituents, rather than on whether or not the bill is outside the Parliament’s competence.
Work has taken place at pace to try to fulfil that commitment and to lay the order ahead of the Scottish Parliament’s stage 3 considerations. The section 30 order modifies schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998, which defines reserved matters for the purpose of that act. It gives the Scottish Parliament limited competence to legislate in relation to the identification and regulation of substances and devices for use in assisting terminally ill adults to voluntarily end their lives. That conferral of competence is time limited, in that it extends only to provision contained in an act of the Scottish Parliament that results from a bill passed before 7 May, meaning only the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill.
It was felt by the Scottish and UK Governments that that was appropriate, given that both Governments are neutral on the issue of assisted dying and do not, therefore, feel that it would be right to pre-empt any future legislation that is brought to the Scottish Parliament on the issue, should Mr McArthur’s bill not pass the stage 3 vote.