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We have apologies from Rachael Hamilton MSP. We have two items on the agenda this morning: consideration of one new petition, and consideration of one continued petition.
The second thing is that all the parliamentary committees have a really important role in acting as an amplifier for the concerns that all MSPs hear from their constituents and people in their regions.
In short, the UK Government has likewise confronted, listened to and acted on many of the legitimate issues that MSPs have grappled with, and it has reached agreement with the EU about them.
It stands, in conclusion, that tonight has revealed that we have the Scottish Government, the First Minister, the cabinet secretaries and now SNP back-bench MSPs on one side, and the sovereign Parliament, the press and the people on the other.
I know that you are wincing, but I can honestly say that, across the parties, the intention of the MSPs involved in passing the act was not to have very narrow legislation, but to have legislation that could be interpreted in a commonsense way.
The cabinet secretary’s remarks at the start of the debate certainly outlined his commitment to seeing the legislation through. I am still a relatively new MSP, and the debate has gone a long way to restoring my optimism about the work that we do in the chamber.