Skip to main content

Language: English / Gàidhlig

Loading…

Seòmar agus comataidhean

Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

Criathragan Hide all filters

Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 29 March 2025
Select which types of business to include


Select level of detail in results

Displaying 664 contributions

|

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee [Draft]

United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (Consultation and Review)

Meeting date: 27 March 2025

George Adam

We could debate that issue for quite a while.

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee [Draft]

United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (Consultation and Review)

Meeting date: 27 March 2025

George Adam

I am always a great believer in stealing someone else’s ideas if they are good.

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee [Draft]

United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (Consultation and Review)

Meeting date: 27 March 2025

George Adam

David Thomson, do you have anything to add?

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee [Draft]

United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (Consultation and Review)

Meeting date: 27 March 2025

George Adam

It is funny that you should say that, because that leads on to my next question. As a Scottish National Party politician, I would say that the internal market act is an act of political intervention. It has been done by the UK Government for a specific reason: to limit the ability of devolved Administrations to make the differences that they want to make in their areas of responsibility.

We are talking about taking the politics out of it. Previously, we worked with the common frameworks. We would take the politics out of it, go to a wee room and argue about what the way forward should be. We would then come back with a settlement on how we had agreed to go forward. That approach would probably help businesses. We would say, “Here are the rules and regulations”—exactly as Marc Strathie spoke about—and, “Here is how we are going forward with policy. Both Governments have agreed to it, so let’s get on”. My argument is that the internal market act has created the political situation that we now find ourselves in. I know that you cannot and will not comment on that opinion, but there are, or were, better ways of working that would create the stability that the marketplace is looking for.

09:45  

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee [Draft]

United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (Consultation and Review)

Meeting date: 27 March 2025

George Adam

It is a bit of stakeholder engagement.

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee [Draft]

United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (Consultation and Review)

Meeting date: 27 March 2025

George Adam

Good morning, everyone. I would like to ask about devolved authority in general. We have come to the conclusion that there can be diversion, as Patrick Harvie said, when there is political will to do things slightly differently.

At the moment, under the internal market act, the devolved Governments are looked on as the junior partners in the whole process, and that is what is causing the problem. How could Scotland implement policies that reflect local needs and priorities using the current internal market act mechanism? I am interested in how you think we could do that rather than us politicians telling you how we think we should do it.

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee [Draft]

Review of the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement

Meeting date: 13 March 2025

George Adam

Professor Schaffer, stop me if I am misquoting you, but earlier you talked about academic work becoming almost obsolete after four years, because everything is moving so quickly. Maybe “obsolete” is too strong a word, but things had changed in the four-year period since a book was published. How do we maintain flexibility in regulation? If things are moving so quickly even in the academic world, how can regulation keep up with that?

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee [Draft]

Review of the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement

Meeting date: 13 March 2025

George Adam

Professor Basiri, you talked about ethics. Is there an argument for AI regulation on what we could call an Asimov principle, which involves putting humanity first in the regulation of anything that AI does and thinking about how it would harm humanity, rather than the other way round, in which you regulate the AI itself?

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee [Draft]

Review of the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement

Meeting date: 13 March 2025

George Adam

Yes, because we could end up in a situation similar to the one with social media, which was a thing that nobody worried about and then, all of a sudden, there was a problem.

Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee [Draft]

Review of the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement

Meeting date: 13 March 2025

George Adam

Good morning, everyone. The discussion has really been quite interesting. I am trying to get my head around where we go with regulation of the whole process.

As we have mentioned, there is fear among the public. Take me and my wife, for example. I am using a form of AI during the meeting because it takes better notes than I do and I need and want the data so that I can use it at a later date. However, it has taken me about five years to convince my wife Stacey to get a robot hoover because she has a fear that robot hoovers will take over the world at some point—I do not think that I am being flippant when I say that. How do we address such diametrically opposed views when we try to regulate AI in the future?