Chamber and committees

I am all for open government and open dialogue, but you are trying to dictate what will be in my consultation.

I am happy to include in the consultation most things that we have discussed so that we get an open and frank discussion. However, there are various red-line points, such as voter ID and the expatriates situation, with which I have severe difficulty, as I think most people would.

I said, “Good for you, Edward.”

Ms White, the answer to your question is that it is as clear as mud. [Laughter.]

Was that the question? I do believe that—

I have issues with that. A number of issues relating to the bill concern me, and that is one of them. The idea that someone can live in a tax haven thousands of miles away and invest in an election—whether it be millions, thousands or hundreds of pounds—concerns me, because they are not part of the democratic process and do not contribute to the UK. I am not even talking about Scotland; I am talking about the UK. I am concerned that people who invest money in various campaigns from abroad skew elections to a certain degree. It is unfair. It is just not right. I am a great believer in doing things by the book, and that kind of thing just smells bad to me.

As I said earlier, in recent elections we have not had any examples of undue influence being a major issue. Third sector organisations and groups that are involved in elections are not screaming from the rooftops that the Government has to make a change in that regard. We are taking cognisance of the issue. We are listening to what the UK Government is saying and we are interested in what is going on, but, after our consultation in 2022, we will look at the matter—along with a raft of others—for our electoral reform bill in 2023.

To be fair, convener, in front of me is a sign that says “Minister for Parliamentary Business”. George Adam’s opinion is irrelevant in this situation. I am here as the Minister for Parliamentary Business to talk about legislation that we might introduce in the next while. Yes, I have my own opinions on various things but, in my role, I have to take proposals through Parliament in a way that is open and transparent and that gives everyone the opportunity to engage.

Yes I can, Mr Doris. The dialogue continues. We still have bilateral conversations with Wales or Westminster and trilateral conversations all together.

I admit that the most recent meeting was pretty fraught. The process has not been helped by there being a reshuffle in the UK Government, which meant that the minister with whom we had built up a relationship moved on, so we had to deal with a new minister and a new relationship. The UK minister’s portfolio has also become larger, so electoral reform is just one aspect of it.

We will continue to engage and communicate to try to find ways forward when we can. We are trying to work through the matter in a way that avoids confusion. I am not going to say that that will be easy, because of the way that things are, but we are doing our best to work through the situation.

Things have changed; the bill has been a moveable feast. It has always been on our minds that, if there is a way forward and a different way of doing business that is valuable to us, for the people of Scotland, we will be happy to look at that for our bill. We have always looked at timescales. Sometimes things have been challenging, but we are pretty confident that we will be able to do everything that is needed for the bill in time for the next election.