Meeting of the Parliament 13 November 2025
I am afraid not, Mr Cole-Hamilton—perhaps I will be able to give way during my closing speech.
It could be that that element of the bill will be removed during stage 2, which would be a shame.
I will support Kevin Stewart’s interesting amendment. I do not see it as a wrecking amendment, as some have suggested. I will listen with interest to Mr Stewart, as I always do, and I look forward to his contribution at stage 2—if we get there.
The most important element of the bill is recall, and I am absolutely determined to see a recall process being introduced during this parliamentary session. To that end, I also accept that introducing a change in the length of prison sentence that is required to lead to a member’s automatic removal from the Parliament might not carry the overall support of the Parliament. If those provisions were removed, the recall process would still kick in for members who received a prison sentence of less than 12 months.
I am interested to hear the views of members from across the chamber.
I move,
That the Parliament agrees to the general principles of the Scottish Parliament (Recall and Removal of Members) Bill.
15:07