Meeting of the Parliament 20 December 2023
I hope that members will be able to hear some of the speech from where I am taking part in the debate this afternoon. I am pleased to be able to speak in today’s stage 3 debate on this important piece of legislation. As others have commented, it is more than 100 years since we have seen a change in the law in this area. I am aware that, for many people, and perhaps even some of my colleagues, the bill can seem like a pretty dry read. It can seem like a very technical bill that will not have an impact on the day-to-day lives of our constituents. Even so, it is an important bill that will be welcomed by many people, especially those in the legal profession and those who execute trusts and wills.
Broadly speaking, the bill will make a good piece of legislation, and I look forward to it being passed in a few minutes’ time. Several colleagues have addressed a number of the issues that have come up, but it is important to note how the bill has been improved as a result of members and the Government engaging constructively. I thank the minister for her work on my amendments, which I believe have improved the bill this afternoon.
One disappointment is that we have not gone far enough on the law of succession. I understand that, as my colleague Oliver Mundell said, we did not want to have a controversial or political bill, but I hope that within the next 100 years we will see more radical reform of the law of succession, which still has many outdated provisions that are not fit for the 21st century. I know that the Scottish Government is going to consult on that, and I hope that a bill on the matter will be passed in the next session of Parliament.
I, too, thank the people who helped the committee and the Parliament to get to where we are today—the Scottish Law Commission, the committee team, the witnesses and those who helped to draft amendments. I suspect that the bill will not get much coverage in the media tomorrow or in the days ahead, but I believe that it can and will make a difference for the better to the lives of individuals here in Scotland, and I look forward to supporting it in a few minutes’ time.