Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 09 March 2022
As we meet today, Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its 14th day—14 days of horror the likes of which we as a European community had said, “Never again,” to. Our thoughts are, of course, with every Ukrainian and every person who has been impacted by Putin’s war. Our thoughts are with the Ukrainian armed forces and those volunteers who have taken up arms to protect their sovereignty, their homes and their families.
However, all words are meaningless if our actions fall short. It is our duty here, in this place, to do everything in our power to increase the pressure on Putin and his cronies to shorten this war of aggression and to save lives. Over 400 civilian souls and thousands of combatants—and counting—have already been lost.
It is right that we are legislating at pace, as the cabinet secretary said, to ensure that we have the toughest of sanctions in the shortest time, and Labour supports the legislative consent motion that is in front of Parliament. My amendment sets out that no backdating should be allowed in relation to the land and assets that the Russian kleptocracy needs to declare here in Scotland. There is no logical sense as to why we must cut off at 2014 the land and assets that it must declare. The Scottish Government has said as much in its memorandum of response, and I am sure that Scottish National Party members will be good to that word by backing Labour’s amendment at decision time. I implore the cabinet secretary to lead in that regard.
I believe that the people of this land have a right to know who holds legal ownership of our common treasury, for which we are but stewards. Too often and for too long, the opaque nature of land registration has made it difficult to enforce proper care for our environment, resolve disputes, encourage or enforce development and to deliver redistribution. Our beloved country where we live and raise our children cannot be allowed to be a smugglers’ cove for capital on the seas of dark money that course around the globe. They may own it, but Scotland belongs to us. We must honour it, rather than allow it to be defiled by corrupt gains and blood moneys.
In achieving that greater good, there will be practical benefits, too. There are significant technicalities that ministers must urgently address, which the cabinet secretary began to set out in his speech. I would appreciate it if the minister could take on board some of those points.
Our amendment sought to seek maximum consensus through brevity, but there are other issues to consider. We must ensure that the Scottish regulations that the cabinet secretary outlined, which are due to come into force in a few weeks’ time, do not create an unnecessary twin-track system. I note the cabinet secretary’s intention that we should move quickly to review the situation. I suggest that the regulations should be rescinded to avoid confusion and to defeat the common purpose of both sets of laws. Ministers should be looking to take more action on persons of significant control in order to ensure that the land and assets that are controlled from abroad through trusts at home are declared and cannot be used to distort ownership. The Tulchan estate in Moray is Scotland’s most expensive sporting estate and is owned by Yuri Shefler, one of the richest drinks producers in the world. Under the proposed legislation, he will not have to declare ownership of the estate due to the intricacies of the chain of ownership.
It would be effective if regulations relating to persons of significant control could be included in the legislation. However, we have been promised at Westminster that a second bill is coming in the next year. I believe that it is vital that the Scottish Government makes significant representations on those issues and more to the UK Government.
We must also see robust enforcement of regulations by the Crown Office. Currently, regulations either are not working or are not being enforced appropriately. Although it is of course not for the Government to instruct the Crown Office, it is a point of reasonable inquiry to gain insight into how those regulations are being operationalised. We have been told that billions of pounds should have been, and perhaps still could be, realised in fines for non-compliance. If there is no enforcement, there is no deterrent.
Henceforth, let us agree as a Parliament that we will do all that we can to maximise transparency in every way, so that people can understand who owns the land to which we belong, who is profiting from it and whose influence is physically etched on our country. We are quickly responding to an emerging situation, but we have allowed the situation of untransparent ownership to develop over countless years. In an attempt to avert our eyes and protect interests, we have built a secretive landscape of ownership that does nothing but protect and defend elites. Right now, the Government should make a forthright commitment to changing that. Scotland can no longer be a safe haven to protect Putin’s interests.
I move amendment S6M-03493.1, to insert at end:
“, but, in so doing, believes that the provisions of part 1 of the Bill should apply to all land owned and registered in Scotland, regardless of when this was acquired.”
18:18Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.