Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 21 March 2019
21 Mar 2019 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Land Reform
I declare an interest as a farmer and food producer, and as a member of NFU Scotland.
I welcome the debate and the publication of the Scottish Land Commission report yesterday. At the outset, let me say how disappointed I am with the report. At the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee this week, Andrew Thin and Hamish Trench went to great lengths to say that the report would be evidence based. I am afraid that I do not believe that their assertion stands up to any reasonable analysis. On the contrary, the report appears to make significant recommendations that are based on subjective evidence from a small group of people who, in my view, are not representative of the majority of people in rural Scotland, and the recommendations are at odds with the Scottish Government’s own research that was carried out in 2016.
As someone who has spent a lifetime among the people of rural Scotland, in some of the poorest communities, I simply do not recognise, nor have I come across, the views that are being called evidence, such as that concentration of land ownership is a problem for the people of rural Scotland. On the contrary, I have found land and estate owners who take what they see as their duties to help and support local communities seriously, and often at considerable personal expense.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Linda Fabiani)
SNP
I ask members to shift their seats quickly. The next item is a debate on motion S5M-16445, in the name of Roseanna Cunningham, on land reform in Scotland. 1...
The Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform (Roseanna Cunningham)
SNP
Land reform is a subject that has been relevant to Scotland for several hundred years, and I have to say that it sometimes seems as though I have been talkin...
Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)
Lab
Land ownership is totally unbalanced in Scotland. If we move towards the purchase of smaller amounts of land, how will we change the fact that 50 per cent of...
Roseanna Cunningham
SNP
If Rhoda Grant listens to the rest of my speech, she will understand the direction of travel. We also want to reflect the importance of urban community owner...
Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
Before I start, I refer members to my entry in the register of interests, which says that I am a partner in a farming partnership. I also own land. I hope t...
Andy Wightman (Lothian) (Green)
Green
Mr Mountain says that we should not obsess over who owns land, and that it is how it is used and managed that matters. Why, then, is the landed class and ind...
Edward Mountain
Con
I think that the people I employ are happy that I look after and manage my business in the way that I work it, as it gives them a job and creates prosperity ...
Gillian Martin (Aberdeenshire East) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Edward Mountain
Con
I am going to make a bit of time. I will perhaps let the member intervene if there is an opportunity later. I want to look at some of the comments in the ...
Gillian Martin
SNP
My point is not the one that I was going to make when I tried to intervene earlier. How would Edward Mountain react to another case that was mentioned in the...
Edward Mountain
Con
I cannot look at an example without its being substantiated. That is the problem with the report. Ms Martin will be well aware that sometimes when people are...
Claudia Beamish (South Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
It is timely that the Scottish Government has lodged the motion for debate today, because it gives us an opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved in ...
Finlay Carson (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Con)
Con
Will the member take an intervention?
Claudia Beamish
Lab
No—I am sorry. I have not got time. I have very few minutes. It is time for a powerful land regulator to examine whether existing ownership helps or hinders...
Andy Wightman (Lothian) (Green)
Green
I am grateful to the cabinet secretary for this timely debate. As she noted, land reform is a difficult process to deal with. As the Government motion hints,...
Edward Mountain
Con
I hardly think that that is my “common theme”, Presiding Officer. To quote the Land Commission’s report, it gives a “Summary of Macro Themes Identified in t...
Andy Wightman
Green
I confess that I have not read the report in enough detail to come to a conclusive view on that. I suspect that that might be a selective reading of what is ...
Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD)
LD
I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this debate on land reform. It is still a source of pride for me that the Scottish Liberal Democrats put land r...
The Presiding Officer (Ken Macintosh)
NPA
We move on to the open debate. 15:50
Gillian Martin (Aberdeenshire East) (SNP)
SNP
Since the passing of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill in 2003, we have had a chance to reflect on whether Scotland’s communities are thriving as a result. In ...
Edward Mountain
Con
I remember reading that part of the report, which relates to a factor sitting at the front of a meeting and taking notes. One person found that intimidating....
Gillian Martin
SNP
Unlike Edward Mountain, who seems to be dismissive of some people’s testimony, I have read the whole testimony—
Edward Mountain
Con
It was one person.
Gillian Martin
SNP
When one person comes to my constituency surgery and says that they have a problem with someone, I do not ask how many other people are affected or for proof...
Finlay Carson (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Con)
Con
I am pleased to speak in this debate a week after I spoke in Andy Wightman’s members’ business debate on who owns Scotland. The subject of land reform in Sco...
Andy Wightman
Green
The member expresses concern about the report’s title. Does he accept that there are issues associated with large-scale and concentrated land ownership in Sc...
Finlay Carson
Con
Not at all. There are some issues, but the report should have been balanced and should have recognised that there are some benefits to be gained from large-s...
Alex Rowley (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
Lab
I welcome today’s debate on land reform in Scotland and agree with the cabinet secretary that land is one of Scotland’s most important assets. It is because ...
Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP)
SNP
Land ownership has been contentious for centuries, but Scottish policy on land is now increasingly rooted in questions of fairness, equality and human rights...
John Scott (Ayr) (Con)
Con
I declare an interest as a farmer and food producer, and as a member of NFU Scotland. I welcome the debate and the publication of the Scottish Land Commissi...