I do not quite understand what the cabinet secretary means. I will keep going, because I did not hear what he said. I am sorry about that.

The Government has drafted a bill that is potentially damaging to women’s safety. It has had ample opportunity to change the bill, and it has received warning after warning about the possible consequences of the bill for women, yet it has not fixed the bill.

That is the reason why Pam Gosal’s amendment notes the words of the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem. The amendment is necessary because the Government is not taking those words seriously enough. The Government is not even pausing the bill to consider Ms Alsalem’s words.

I wrote to the First Minister about the matter on Monday. I asked that she suspend the bill until we can hear from the UN expert. Ms Alsalem has offered to provide “expertise” to the First Minister personally. She has said that it would be “more than reasonable” to pause the bill, because active court cases might have implications for the legislation. She is right, and the Government must listen. It is vital that we make good laws, with proper and full consideration of all the consequences. Rushing to pass legislation is rarely a good idea but, in this case, with fundamental rights at stake, it would be completely misguided to push through the new laws in haste.

I struggle to see why the Government seems unwilling to listen to that particular expert. The Government typically puts a lot of faith in evidence from the UN, so we are only asking for consistency. It would be grossly unfair to women and girls with sincere and valid concerns about the bill if the Government were to cherry pick the opinions that it relied on while ignoring a UN adviser who has expertise in this very area.