You do not, for a moment, imagine that your bank notes are not legal tender and are not adequate legal mechanism for obtaining payment. So English law, in my opinion, is adequate. I do have concerns about the idea of establishing a certification authority licensing regime. This is because it is potentially capable of driving people away from using digital signature because of their concerns. There is one further thing I might add.
Nobody ever has their signature on a cheque witnessed.
That is the analogy you have to bear in mind. I have to ask because of Mr Morgan here. My formal answer is that I am not qualified in that jurisdiction but my understanding of the situation in Scotland is yes. In relation to signatures the position is the same there. Indeed, I believe the Scottish system was rather more advanced than the English one because, of course, it was as long ago as 1988 that the legislation was passed, which made civil evidence more easily admissible in Scotland.