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You can guarantee that that will be the case because, as most committee members will be aware, my wife, Stacey, has multiple sclerosis and is a wheelchair user, so it is important to me personally that the challenges are addressed.

On the tactile voting proposal, as I think that you are aware, I visited Forth Valley Sensory Centre to see how it works, because I am a great believer in seeing approaches. You are right that, in a digital age, it is a very analogue way of dealing with the issue but, from what I have seen and from trying it out myself, I know that it works and makes it easier for everyone with sight loss to engage with the electoral process.

I am all for trying to find easier ways for people to engage with the process but I am also all too aware how difficult it can be for people with physical disabilities, such as sight loss, to do so. A lot of that has to do with the training of staff in the polling stations. I will make one commitment: we will endeavour to ensure that that is not an issue.

Mr Mountain seems to have stumbled on to the actual issue that we are dealing with here and now. The problem is not one of my making; I am not the one who is dramatically changing UK electoral law—I cannot legislate for UK elections. It is the UK Government that is dramatically changing electoral law.

We have had discussions during the process and we have tried to engage with the UK Government on the matter. At one point, we tried to bring the UK Government round and to change various things, so that we could have a level playing field for all elections, but that just was not going to happen—and it did not happen.

The UK Government has made an assumption, whether or not you think it is right—I think that it is wrong—that it will just carry on and do things its way. It is not we, in this Parliament, who have created the problem. If there was a UK election during the intervening period, it would be under UK electoral law anyway, so there would be no difference in that regard. I agree with Mr Mountain that the UK Government has included various things that would create differences in the process, many of which we have discussed today.

I am not to blame for this. My colleagues have tried to influence the situation but have been unable to do so. The Welsh Government and I totally agree on the way forward. Our colleagues in Wales are doing the same as I am doing. In fact, they are going further, as they are adding to their electoral bill some other ideas that are not part of the proposed UK election legislation.

Yes, I agree that anything that interferes with the election process is wrong and that we should ensure that we make it as safe as possible for everyone to fill in their ballot paper. That is part of the reason why we want to have legislation of our own for those processes. As I said to Ms White, that is why we are looking at the issue and waiting to see what comes from it.

As my official has said, the current system is archaic, so we need to find a way to modernise it—that might be part of the bill. I cannot tell you what will be in the bill because we obviously have to consult people first.

I think—

That would be an extreme event. I am not a betting man, but I would not bet on that happening. That is an extreme example of a possible problem, and we feel pretty comfortable that we can get everything in place before our next major electoral event.

As I told Ms White, and as I said during my opening remarks, we will consult during 2022 and introduce the bill in 2023. That will give us ample time to ensure that we have everything in place for the next Scottish election.

I understand, convener. It is purely that my colleagues and I have been living this for the past six months, so we just—

Mr Mountain, as the Minister for Parliamentary Business, in our chamber of minorities, I would have difficulty getting voter ID passed.

I am not making judgments, but I think that the Conservatives would probably be the only party that would support such an idea. There are issues that we fundamentally disagree on, and I think that I can draw a line and say that there is no feel for voter ID in the Scottish Parliament.

It is not as simple as giving a yes or no answer. I have said that we will look at the process and at ensuring that we can incorporate something in our bill once we have consulted everyone. Mr Mountain, there is a process. I may be a St Mirren supporter and our colours may be black and white, but unfortunately the world is not black and white—there is a grey bit in the middle, and we must ensure that we can get things done and go forward. In answer to the question, the matter will be considered as part of our election reform bill.

I am not opposed to the moves in the bill on that issue. We have already said that we intend to consult in 2022 and to introduce a bill in 2023, and that we would consider the matter. However, in discussions that we have had, we have found that the issue is not as serious as others have said it is. Nonetheless, we are not opposed to introducing legislation on it. We are happy to consider the matter and, possibly, to make it part of the bill that we will introduce.

As I said in response to the original question, there are many parts to this. We do not believe that we have a monopoly on genius or ideas, but we do believe that there are different ways forward. We all live in a digital world. Our legislation was for the electoral process itself. We all live in a digital world and we know what goes on within various internet providers and on social media. We would look at ways of modernising that. Although I am not prejudging it, I assume that that will probably be one of the things that will be highlighted when we go to consultation. I am happy to bring Iain Hockenhull in if there is anything else to add.