The Minister said that this Bill would not have been possible without Brexit. I think the expression he was looking for is that this Bill would not have been necessary if it had not been for Brexit. This is yet another example of the Government having to play catch-up and having to get themselves out of the holes they dug themselves into through an ill-thought-out Brexit and driving for the hardest possible exit from the European Union.
That said, I do want to echo the thanks given and the tributes paid to the Bill team, and to the Clerks, who have had to work particularly hard in recent days given the significant number of Government amendments tabled at the last minute. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North West (Carol Monaghan) for her work on Second Reading and in Committee, as well as our research team, especially Josh Simmons-Upton and the many stakeholders who have provided briefings and research, particularly the team at the Public Law Project, who have done excellent work in drawing out some of the most concerning aspects of the Bill. It always concerned me when the briefings came in, entitled “PLP briefing”—I did a doubletake as I thought I was on somebody else’s mailing list.
Although some of what is in the Bill is necessary, particularly following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, much of it represents a further power grab by the Executive and risks doing exactly the opposite of what the Government say they want it to achieve: making life easier for business, and improving public confidence in data handling and the use of artificial intelligence.
The SNP will oppose the Bill, and the Government should take the opportunity to start from scratch with a process that listens to consultation responses and involves genuine and detailed parliamentary scrutiny. If the Bill proceeds to the Lords, it will once again fall to the unelected House to more fully interrogate it. That will no doubt lead to several rounds of ping-pong in due course, almost certainly as a result of amendments both from the Government and from the Opposition or Cross-Benchers in the Upper House. That is sub-optimal, as is the case with so much of what seems to happen down here these days. The sooner Scotland has power over this area, and indeed all aspects of legislation, as an independent country, the better.
Question put, That the Bill be now read the Third time.