Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 05 June 2013
05 Jun 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Land Reform
I am short of time and I want to make another couple of points.
The commitment to extend community right to buy in urban areas should have been in the report, too, because ownership of economic drivers would have a similar impact on those communities as it has had on rural areas. Empowering marginalised communities could lead to their sustainable growth.
Extending the right to buy to tenant farmers and giving them the same security of tenure as crofters would also have been a very welcome step. That group in particular is so oppressed that tenant farmers dare not even speak out. Farms that have been in families for more than 100 years are being repossessed and the evictions smack of the Highland clearances, and yet the review group has washed its hands of them. What will the minister do?
Following the interim report of the land reform review group, a number of people are asking just how serious the Scottish Government is about land reform and how radical it is prepared to be—hence our motion. Jim Hunter’s stinging rebuke this week shows how much the Government has neglected land reform when it could have been powering ahead on the matter. Is that another example of Scotland on pause and a Government afraid to annoy the vested interests ahead of the referendum? If that is the case, the Government is mistaken; the Scottish people will not stand for that.
15:11
The commitment to extend community right to buy in urban areas should have been in the report, too, because ownership of economic drivers would have a similar impact on those communities as it has had on rural areas. Empowering marginalised communities could lead to their sustainable growth.
Extending the right to buy to tenant farmers and giving them the same security of tenure as crofters would also have been a very welcome step. That group in particular is so oppressed that tenant farmers dare not even speak out. Farms that have been in families for more than 100 years are being repossessed and the evictions smack of the Highland clearances, and yet the review group has washed its hands of them. What will the minister do?
Following the interim report of the land reform review group, a number of people are asking just how serious the Scottish Government is about land reform and how radical it is prepared to be—hence our motion. Jim Hunter’s stinging rebuke this week shows how much the Government has neglected land reform when it could have been powering ahead on the matter. Is that another example of Scotland on pause and a Government afraid to annoy the vested interests ahead of the referendum? If that is the case, the Government is mistaken; the Scottish people will not stand for that.
15:11
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (John Scott)
Con
The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-06845, in the name of Claire Baker, on land reform.14:40
Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
Lab
I am pleased to open this debate on land reform, which has been brought forward by Scottish Labour.Under devolution, a Labour-led Executive introduced the fi...
Rob Gibson (Caithness, Sutherland and Ross) (SNP)
SNP
I hope that our respective parties can stay united on the need for further land reform, as we will otherwise play into the hands of those who resist change. ...
Claire Baker
Lab
To be honest, I am disappointed by that intervention, because I thought that we agreed on the need for radical land reform. The member will know how difficul...
Alex Fergusson (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Con)
Con
Does the member accept that considerable work is going on, particularly through the tenant farming forum, to look at land tenancy issues? Does she accept tha...
Claire Baker
Lab
I do not accept that, and I will comment on the forum. Until the publication of the report last week, tenant farming was to be part of the review. However, t...
The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment (Richard Lochhead)
SNP
Will the member give way?
Claire Baker
Lab
I am sorry, but I am really pushed for time and I want to make a few further points.The review that the Scottish Government proposes looks pretty narrow: it ...
Stewart Stevenson (Banffshire and Buchan Coast) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Claire Baker
Lab
I apologise, but I am really pushed for time in this short debate.The Government’s amendment highlights the group’s independence. However, although it is ind...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Con
I inform members that we are tight for time and that the allocated speaking times must be adhered to.14:51
The Minister for Environment and Climate Change (Paul Wheelhouse)
SNP
I am delighted to lead in the debate for the Scottish Government and I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss such an important subject. As Claire Baker ...
Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green)
Green
Does the minister agree that, although community ownership is important, a land reform agenda cannot be limited to community ownership?
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
I will be happy to address that point later in my speech, and I certainly agree with Patrick Harvie that the land reform agenda should not be constrained.As ...
Claire Baker
Lab
I welcome the minister’s announcement of the group’s expanded membership. However, I note that it has agreed quite a narrow remit. Will there be a chance to ...
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
There is no change per se to the group’s remit, but the work that it carried out in phase 1 identified the areas that it feels it necessary to pursue in grea...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Con
I call Alex Fergusson, who has five minutes.14:58
Alex Fergusson (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Con)
Con
As it is often insinuated that we Conservatives are simply against land reform, I take this opportunity to say that nothing could be further from the truth. ...
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
Will the member give way?
Alex Fergusson
Con
I am afraid that I have only five minutes, so the minister will have to forgive me that cheap jibe.On a slightly more important note, the same Professor Jim ...
Claire Baker
Lab
Will the member take an intervention?
Alex Fergusson
Con
I just do not have time—I really am sorry. You chose to have a short debate, so I cannot help you.Furthermore, we are asked to recognise that“the Scottish Go...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Con
I remind all members that they must speak through the chair, please.15:03
Rob Gibson (Caithness, Sutherland and Ross) (SNP)
SNP
In his chapter on the proper use of land in “Small Is Beautiful”, E F Schumacher says:“Among material resources, the greatest, unquestionably, is that land. ...
Claire Baker
Lab
Will the member take an intervention?
Rob Gibson
SNP
I have no time for interventions—I am sorry.The pace of land reform is quickening, not slackening, under the SNP Government. The tenant farming forum is unde...
Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)
Lab
Four hundred and thirty-two people own half of Scotland. Nowhere else in the European Union or, indeed, the rest of the world is land ownership so skewed to ...
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Rhoda Grant
Lab
I am short of time and I want to make another couple of points.The commitment to extend community right to buy in urban areas should have been in the report,...
Christian Allard (North East Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I welcome the debate secured by Claire Baker. Like others before me, I wish that Mrs Baker had waited for the independent group looking at the future of land...