Meeting of the Parliament 24 February 2026 [Draft]
The point of Mr Whitfield’s intervention is very important. I have considered the issue and I am confident that the bill is sound—or it will be if we pass these amendments.
Amendment 56 reflects that the provision in section 22 should apply to the whole act, as opposed to only the part that it originally applied to prior to amendment at stage 2. It reflects part 2 having been deleted from the bill at stage 2. Similarly, amendment 58 amends section 23, on the meaning of expressions relevant to the criminal offence ground, so that it applies to the act as a whole and not a particular part.
Amendment 59 is another restructuring amendment. It moves the interpretation provisions in section 23, which are relevant to the criminal offence ground, into the “Final provisions” part of the bill. Similarly, amendment 63 moves the general interpretive provisions in section 24 to the “Final provisions” part. That is so that both sets provisions can come into force after royal assent and not be subject to regulations that would bring those provisions into force at a later date.
Amendments 60 and 62 reflect that bill was amended to remove the original part 2, on the removal of members, and that it now concerns only the recall of MSPs. The reference to the word “Part”, which is removed by both these amendments, clarifies that the general interpretive rules under section 24 will now apply to the act as a whole, as opposed to applying only to part 1, on recall, as they did originally.
Amendments 31, 36 and 37 amend the short title of the bill to remove reference to “removal”, to reflect that the part of the bill concerning removal of members was deleted at stage 2.
I move amendment 47.