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Thank you for that answer, Mr Eustice. I had planned to give you chapter and verse on the committees that have taken evidence on the Subsidy Control Act 2022 and the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, but we are very constrained for time. However, I will cite Jonnie Hall, who gave evidence to the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee at the tail end of last year. Mr Hall stated that the internal market act drove “a coach and horses” through the common frameworks. Why are you not sticking to the principles of the common frameworks?

You are constraining the Scottish Government’s ability to support agriculture through the Subsidy Control Act 2022. If we have policies that are strictly designed for Scottish issues, the UK Government can override them if it feels that the policies go against the principles of what it is trying to do down in England. Is that not correct?

The Scottish Government plans to make direct payments to farmers on the basis of food production, and up here we also have hogg and less favoured area support scheme payments. You have none of those in England. If you start being lobbied by farmers down in England who say, “This direct support is causing us problems in our marketplace,” you have the power to require the Scottish Government to take that subsidy away, do you not?

I am very glad that my colleague Jenni Minto raised the subject of the Northern Ireland protocol; we will come back to that later.

I refer back to what my colleague Dr Allan was asking you about. I genuinely get the point that you are trying to be as positive as you can be about the situation regarding the subsidy framework. I refer, however, to what has been reported to the committee for socioeconomic analysis of the European Chemicals Agency—SEAC—the Scottish Government and the House of Lords, and I would particularly like to examine the statement that has been made by a House of Lords committee. It says:

“there are powers under which the Secretary of State can refer subsidies or subsidy schemes made by the devolved Governments to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which could potentially have the effect of overriding the devolved governments”—

and “overriding the devolved governments” is the really important bit—

“when it comes to proposing subsidies”.

Other countries have agriculture separated from any subsidy control regimes. Why has the UK Government not done that? Did you have any consultation with the Scottish Government when you were putting your proposals forward?

But did you consult the Scottish Government on the Subsidy Control Bill? This point keeps coming back as a major issue. Did you consult the Scottish Government specifically on the Subsidy Control Bill?

I must apologise—I feel as though I am gatecrashing my own party by going out and coming in again.

I have a technical question for Professor Sindico. Alasdair Allan has alluded to the charges for getting island communities connected to the grid and the fact that connection costs more for an island than it does on the mainland or, indeed, down south. Given the renewable capabilities of island communities, is there an opportunity to do what they have done on Eigg and create community energy systems that do not require permission from anyone else to connect to the grid and that will therefore allow the islands to take advantage of their own natural resources without their being constrained?

I have what I promise is a very brief question for Professor Sindico. We have wind, tidal and all these other sources of renewable energy, but can energy from waste, too, play a role in reaching net zero in future?

I apologise to the rest of the committee and to the panel. I will be gone for about 90 minutes, but I intend to return and be brought up to date at the end.

You are not working in isolation.

Alex Rowley talked about the conditions for staff in care homes. As you had that conversation, a question popped into my head. Let us assume that the Scottish Government said, “Do you know what? We’re going to play a blinder and pay care home staff £15 an hour so that they are very well remunerated.” Where would the staff come from? Would we have to track down new staff?

That is the point that I am trying to make. Please do not think for one second that I am saying that people should not be very well paid for the jobs that they do. However, a local business in my constituency said that, if it bumps up wages in order to bring in as many people as it can, it will be robbing Peter to pay Paul. Another sector will lose staff if we do not have enough people working here.

We have heard that staff in the test and protect system are being made redundant or being redeployed. What is the current position? Are staff available from that system to go into other sectors?