Meeting of the Parliament 25 September 2024
I will not denigrate the committee. I am very grateful for the time that the convener has given me, and I recognise that the committee has tried to accommodate the Government’s concerns as much as possible.
Mr Mountain’s intervention has just made me realise that I did not respond to one of Mr Harvie’s points. The challenge that we faced in producing the bill in the timescale that was laid out is that, first, we had to wait to hear what the Climate Change Committee had to say, and then we were immediately into an election period. I imagine that, if we as the Government had introduced a bill during that election period, we would right now be hearing a cacophony of noise from Opposition members saying, “How dare you introduce a bill during the election period?” That is why we had to wait.
Mr Simpson talked about a compromise position. Frankly, what is before us right now, in the name of the Parliamentary Bureau, and which I am asking Parliament to vote for, is the compromise position. The Government’s preference has been to get it done and dusted by the October recess, so that we would not be in danger of contravening what is required under the Scotland Act 1998 and putting the legal position at jeopardy, but it was clear that that was not going to be able to be carried.
I have been willing to compromise, and that is what is on the table right now. I think that we should agree to it and get on with it. Of course, whatever is agreed tonight will require me and the Government to engage with the UK Government to see whether we can secure a shortening of royal assent. However, Parliament should be aware that that cannot be guaranteed. If we agree to an even longer timescale this evening, we are in serious danger of putting that position in great jeopardy.