Meeting of the Parliament 17 June 2026 [Last updated 18:21]
I recognise that it is regrettable that I must stand before Parliament today and ask that it suspend standing orders to allow the first motion on legislative consent in this parliamentary session to come straight to the chamber.
By way of background, the UK Government introduced the Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill on 14 May 2026. It had been announced in the King’s speech the previous day. There was no substantive engagement from the UK Government on the bill prior to its introduction—the Secretary of State for Business and Trade wrote to the First Minister only on 13 May, setting out the intent to introduce the bill the following day.
The timing of the bill’s introduction—it was after the Scottish Parliament elections and during the period of Government formation—was always going to be challenging, but that has been compounded by the lack of prior engagement from the UK Government, despite its intent to expedite the passage of the Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill through the UK Parliament.
There will be no opportunity for the Scottish Parliament to consider whether to grant legislative consent to the bill after our summer recess—it is important to press that point. On the UK Government and UK Parliament timescale, we will not have the opportunity to consider whether to grant consent after our summer recess.