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I have a couple of different questions: one is about the wider situation and the other is a more practical one. You have touched on where we are and where you think that the bill is going. You have indicated that wiser counsels do not seem to have prevailed. We have taken evidence from lots of people and, unusually for this committee, they have all been unified in being pretty mystified about the motivations behind the bill. Has the UK Government explained to you the motivations for it?

Given what you have just described, with regard to how you plan to cope with the bill and its impact on Scotland or how you plan future legislation in Scotland, does this episode say something about the Sewel convention? Is it a constitutional fiction?

On the back of that question, you have mentioned the impact that this legislation will have on consumer and environmental protection and that the Scottish Government would need to act. Have you made an assessment from the Government end of the sheer quantity of civil service time that might be necessary in attempting to pick up the pieces?

I will come in briefly. Mr Mountain raised a point about the importance of eradicating mink in many parts of Scotland, and he cited the Hebrides. I merely want to confirm what Jenni Minto said, which is that I have visited those projects and they do not use dogs; as has been pointed out, they use satellite-positioned live traps.

My question is mainly for those of you who work in devolved areas, but others should feel free to join in. A couple of you have touched on how the bill would impact on the wider nature of devolution and how, in turn, that would impact on you. A couple of references have been made—by Colin Reid and David Bowles, I think—to how the bill might relate to other pieces of legislation such as the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 and the declining meaning of the Sewel convention, which the committee has looked at. I am keen to open up a discussion about the wider impact on the devolution settlement, if such a thing now exists.

I do not want to minimise the extent of the outbreak, given its impact, not least on wild birds, but can you say a wee bit more about that? Can you also say more about the comparison between—and the geographic concentration of—the outbreaks in Scotland and England?

I have no idea, but we might both be about to make the same point, for all I know.

You have run through a series of scenarios in your evidence, minister, and gone through them one by one. Some of them are hypothetical, as you have said.

We have had evidence from some stakeholders that referred to the potential difficulties that the police have indicated that they might face in distinguishing between some of those scenarios. In weighing up how the bill was put together, did you consider the option of going in the other direction? This is not a position that I am advocating, I hasten to add, but did you consider having the limit simply set at two dogs per shoot?

We all accept that avian flu does not stop at political borders, but you are making persuasive arguments as to why the situation at the moment appears to be a bit different in Scotland than it is in the rest of the UK—or in England, anyway. How are you keeping in touch with colleagues in England to ensure that you have an advance picture of what might come to Scotland?

You touched on the issue of loopholes, and I am aware of where you think the dangers might lie. How did you weigh up the concern that was expressed on animal welfare grounds about the dangers of such loopholes? You already mentioned your concern about how some groups might adapt their behaviour to get around the aims of the bill. Could you say a little bit more about that? Could you also say whether you are still satisfied that the arrangements that are set out in the bill that allow for multiple dogs, although not in a pack—and the interpretation of those provisions—are adequate to meet the animal welfare concerns of the bill?

One of the issues that has been raised in the past has been the definition of a pack and how a pack might be identified. Are you still content with the working definition that you have of what constitutes a pack?