Meeting of the Parliament 26 November 2025
The Scottish Conservatives have very real concerns about the emergency bill—concerns about how we got here, the legality of the measures and that, today, two days into our knowing about the situation, the Scottish Government’s story is already changing. Will the Government be sure-footed in the answers that it gives moving forward? We do not have confidence that it has been on top of the issue to date.
Ministers are saying today that they have confidence that the tax can be levied retrospectively. However, thanks to Mr Fraser, we all know that the law states quite clearly that retrospective taxes can apply only in exceptional circumstances. I heard what the Deputy Presiding Officer said to Mr Fraser about the legal competence of the bill, but, as the formal response from the Presiding Officer to Mr Fraser makes clear, whether a provision of a bill is within the Parliament’s legislative competence can only definitively be determined by a court.
Will the minister produce the legal advice—whether now or during the debate? I know that the Government would not routinely do that, but will the minister do so in order to confirm beyond reasonable doubt that these are exceptional circumstances? If he cannot do so, he should be very worried, because property developers are already in discussion with lawyers and are murmuring the words “unjustified enrichment”. Will the minister also confirm on the record that it is the Government, and not councils, that will be on the hook for the potential cost of £400 million and all other associated costs?
The £400 million in non-domestic rates has been levied on property owners without any legal basis. Although we do not want to delve too deeply into the impact of the original legislation since it was introduced because, at the behest of ministers, the debate and the process will be too short for us to do so, it is worth putting it on the record that the £400 million that has been levied illegally in rates since then has done real and lasting damage to the commercial property market in Scotland, and therefore to towns, jobs and industry.