Meeting of the Parliament 24 March 2026 [Draft]
I pay tribute to some of the members who have spoken today and who are stepping down. I hope that I do not pick up the tears that my colleague Edward Mountain has brought into the chamber—that depth of feeling. Although we may come from very different perspectives, he has always been willing to reach across the aisles between us to work constructively as a fellow member and convener. We have found common ground on a number of issues, including salmon farming and climate change, and I appreciate the work that we have done together in those areas.
Beatrice Wishart has been a strong advocate for Shetland. We share a passion for infrastructure—that of fixed links. Rhoda Grant has been an incredible champion for crofting—I have seen that come to the fore through the passage of this legislation—and a force for the Highlands and Islands. She has also called for the right to food. I share Tim Eagle’s enthusiasm for Richard Leonard’s speeches in the chamber, and I appreciate the tag‑team approach that we took to making improvements to seasonal worker accommodation. I am looking forward to taking that forward in the next session.
My thanks must also go to the team that put together the bill and to the Parliament’s legislation team, which was very supportive in our work to lodge amendments.
On what is at hand today, I will close the debate for the Greens by saying that we support the bill. It ties up loose ends that are creating problems for today’s crofters. However, as I said earlier, it is not ambitious enough to ensure crofting’s long‑term future. I look forward to working with the Government to create something that will allow crofting to flourish and expand.
There are a multitude of challenges ahead that crofters will need support with so that they can adapt and thrive. For example, the 2045 net zero target is edging ever closer, and we also have the good food nation commitments to consider. The job of the Scottish Government in both instances is to prepare the ground for crofters and enable them to make the most of the opportunities that these present. We are moving in the right direction, but more haste is needed, given the severity of the challenges that are on the horizon.
Elements of the legislation will help crofters to begin the process of adaptation, but there was room in the bill to speed things up. At stage 2, we proposed giving crofters the benefits from environmental use of the land, an environmental use advice service and public financing. Had those amendments been accepted, crofters would have had the means and the confidence to pick up the pace on climate and nature.
At the same time, those amendments would have fostered thriving crofting communities, with a more equal distribution of wealth, greater financial security and a clearer route forward when it comes to putting the land to environmental use. Those ideas should not disappear with the bill. They need further consideration by the next Government in its review of crofting legislation.
The review should also aspire to create a system that is easier to access. The new entrants will be the life-blood of crofting’s future, and we need to pave the way for new faces by levelling out the market in croft tenancies and simplifying the legislation so that it is clearer and more coherent for those who are not yet part of the crofting community.
There was an opportunity to create rapid positive change in part 2 of the bill. We pushed the Government to consider giving the Scottish Land Court further environmental jurisdiction, with a view to using it as a foundation for an environmental court. For too long, Scotland has been in breach of its Aarhus convention obligations, with little meaningful movement by successive Governments to rectify the situation. If Scotland is to become an independent nation that is trusted and respected on the international stage, we need to meet all the requirements of the treaties that we have signed up to. To the Government’s credit, its amendment to review the court’s operation will mean that that issue is looked at.
The Scottish Greens stand ready to work with the next Government to deliver more ambitious reform for crofters. I sincerely hope that work on that can start early in the next session.