Meeting of the Parliament 22 January 2026 [Draft]
I agree with Daniel Johnson on everything that he said, except for the bit when he said that I was inviting people to contribute in order to fill my time. I think that the Parliament knows that I am more than capable of filling up any of the speaking time that I am generously permitted.
Nevertheless, I agree with Daniel Johnson that we are dealing with unfamiliar concepts and unfamiliar legal language, so it is good that the committee includes a learned colleague.
We are living in a technologically accelerating world. Willie Coffey was right when he said that the witnesses did their best to help us to understand things, which they did. The evidence sessions were very helpful, and the quality of the evidence was superlative.
I pay tribute to my committee colleagues for the quality of the scrutiny. Frankly, under the convenership of Daniel Johnson and the deputy convenership of Michelle Thomson, I felt that there was a seriousness, a discipline and an intellectual rigour to our scrutiny. Kevin Stewart was right to mention the quality of the committee’s scrutiny.
The committee heard a wide range of evidence, some of which was contested. The committee’s report reflects that there were different points of view, which were refreshing to hear. As Willie Coffey said, the report is 38 pages long, and I have to confess that it is not a leisurely read—it is pretty difficult to read. When complimenting the report, I said to Murdo Fraser that I thought that it was 100 pages long, but, when I checked, I realised that it was 38 pages. It must have felt as though it was that long because of the density of the information that it contains. I place on record my thanks to the clerks for their expert work.
As a number of members have said, the bill is deliberately narrow. It focuses on providing legal certainty in Scots law by recognising that certain digital assets are capable of being property, of having ownership and of being lawfully transferred. Given our existing property categories predate digital technology, the clarification in law is necessary and overdue. As a committee, we accepted that concepts such as rivalrousness and immutability, although not everyday language, are sufficiently clear to provide a workable legal framework.
We also accept that this is a framework bill. It sets foundations, rather than answering every downstream question. Not only do we not know the answers; we do not know what questions we might face in times to come. Issues such as tokenisation, environmental impact, insolvency, jurisdiction and enforcement are all flagged by the committee’s report as areas in which further work will be needed.
That leads me to strike a note of caution. The pace of technological change in this area is not slowing down; it is accelerating. The committee was clear that complacency would be a mistake. As colleagues have said, if Scotland is to remain a credible and competitive legal jurisdiction for this kind of activity, which will be a task in and of itself, given the nature of the market and where it is centred, the Parliament and the Government will need to stay properly advised, properly resourced and alert to what the legislation will set in train. Further legislation will be inevitable. The capacity of the Parliament and we, as parliamentarians, to scrutinise it properly will be tested. As a current member of the committee, I have no doubt about that.
Compliments have been paid to the Government’s bill team. I also point out that this bill might well be the last one that Richard Lochhead is in charge of as the minister. If that proves to be the case, it is hard to imagine a more intricate and demanding subject on which to legislate. I am sure that the minister longs for a return to the UEFA European Championship (Scotland) Bill. It would be churlish of me not to say that I recognise the work that the Government and Government officials have done on the bill.
For all the reasons that I have outlined in my short contribution, as well as the contributions of colleagues across the chamber, I am happy to say that the Conservatives will support the general principles of the bill. I encourage other members to do the same.