Meeting of the Parliament 08 June 2023
I simply point to the evidence that was given by the cabinet secretary’s officials. It was said that both Governments are working towards agreeing the issues around the nine items that are currently in the schedule and that agreement is perfectly possible if the officials who gave evidence to us and UK Government officials can work together to achieve that.
In conclusion, I believe that the dangers of the bill continue to be overplayed by the Scottish Government. The UK Government’s amendments, particularly the removal of the sunset clause and the much narrower planned removal of obsolete instruments set out in schedule 1, mean that the most significant concerns relating to the bill have been removed. As I have said, discussions between the two Governments with regard to the nine instruments are on-going, and there is a real possibility that they could be removed before either of the deadlines that have been mentioned. That is why I believe that the Parliament should give its consent to the supplementary LCM to the amended bill and why we will vote against the motion at decision time.
14:42