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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

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

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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 19 December 2024
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Displaying 570 contributions

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Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Elections Bill

Meeting date: 25 November 2021

George Adam

It is not so much about the confusion that voter ID causes; it is to do with the fact that, as you quite rightly state, there is not the will to introduce it, because people do not believe that there is a level of electoral fraud that means that we need something such as voter ID.

We are trying to encourage the public to engage with the voting process; fundamentally, voter ID would make that more difficult. It would put a barrier in the way of a member of the public being able to cast a vote. I do not want that. I want to ensure that we have elections such as the one that we had this year in Scotland, in which there was an open and frank discussion and the public came out in numbers.

Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Elections Bill

Meeting date: 25 November 2021

George Adam

Possibly. I will need to check with Iain Hockenhull with regard to the consultation—if I wish to do it.

Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Elections Bill

Meeting date: 25 November 2021

George Adam

If you are willing to give the names of these individuals and groups to my team, convener, we will quite happily include them. After all, we want to ensure that the process is full, frank and open and that they have the opportunity to say what they want to say. Having been involved with disability groups for most of my political life, I know only too well that they will be pretty vocal, and I am quite happy to engage with them.

Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Elections Bill

Meeting date: 25 November 2021

George Adam

As I said in my statement, there are many areas where we have common ground with the UK Government, but some parts of the bill are toxic for the Scottish Parliament and Government.

Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Elections Bill

Meeting date: 25 November 2021

George Adam

I will do so in the future.

Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Elections Bill

Meeting date: 25 November 2021

George Adam

Good for you, Edward.

Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Elections Bill

Meeting date: 25 November 2021

George Adam

I just said “Well done” to Edward for that. That is all that I was suggesting.

Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Elections Bill

Meeting date: 25 November 2021

George Adam

The next election in which that would affect us is not until 2026. If, after consultation, we find that undue influence is a major issue and we decide, as a Government, to go down a similar route to the UK Government, we will add that to our electoral reform bill. I do not believe that there could be a major difference if we do everything that we set out to do.

That goes back to the crux of the matter, which is that the UK Government is changing the playing field, and we are being expected to fall into line. I do not think that that is right and I do not think that you, Ms White—or any other members of this Parliament—should be treated in that way. We need to have an open discussion.

The matter that you have raised is at the very heart of the issue, which is that a bill has been published that the UK Government expects our colleague in Wales and me to just accept. However, on all the issues, my colleague in Wales and I are of the same mind and have agreed a way forward. It is not just about me, George Adam, the Scottish National Party Minister for Parliamentary Business—a Labour member in Wales who is in a similar role to mine has come to the same conclusions.

Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Elections Bill

Meeting date: 25 November 2021

George Adam

At this stage, as I said, I do not even have a draft bill in front of me. We will go through the whole process and take it from there once we have decided the best way in which to make the update valuable. I am happy to bring Iain Hockenhull in, in order—I hope—to back me up.

Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Elections Bill

Meeting date: 25 November 2021

George Adam

What do you mean by “unscheduled”?