…the blog and website of Andy Wightman
Thirty-four years ago today on 4 May 1979, Mrs Thatcher took office as Prime Minister. Every new Prime Minister, upon taking up the office is given a detailed brieifng on the most urgent and important issues of the day. For convenience
Continue readingYesterday marked the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Rootes Factory in Linwood that made the Hillman Imp. To accomodate the workforce, the small industrial village of Linwood was expanded and the first “Regional Shopping Centre” in Scotland was opened
Continue readingToday the Scottish government has published a very welcome consultation paper (media release & consultation paper) on the future of allotments. The reform and modernisation of allotment legislation will form part of the forthcoming Community Empowerment and Renewal Bill and
Continue readingThe Mirror carries a report today (13 April 2013) that the house that Margaret Thatcher lived in for the past 20 years is “owned” by a company called Bakeland Property Company Ltd. registered in the British Virgin Islands. The story
Continue readingThe City of Edinburgh Council has advertised its intention to introduce a Private Bill to enable it to build a new Portobello High School on part of Portobello Park. This follows a meeting of the Council on 14th March which
Continue readingWhen I was at University in 1980s studying forestry, Forestry Commission land was being sold off and the private sector was booming with generous tax breaks on offer to investors to plant trees. Particular controversy erupted over the rapid expansion
Continue readingAbove: Scottish Ministers Estates (purple) in north-west Scotland During Portfolio Questions on Rural Affairs and the Environment in the Scottish Parliament on 13 March 2013, Lewis Macdonald asked the Government about the latest situation on Raasay (see previous posts 23
Continue readingDavid Lloyd George and Winston Churchill. A Land Value Tax for England. Fair, Efficient, Sustainable (4.1Mb pdf) Over the past few months I have been undertaking research for Caroline Lucas MP into how a system of site value rating or land
Continue readingMusselburgh Town Council The 2013 COSLA & Improvement Service conference might yet go down in history as a historic event. Opening the conference yesterday, COSLA President Councillor David O’Neill, laid out a future vision for local government which is a radical
Continue readingI wonder how much money Hamish MacDonell was paid to write this blatant piece of PR spin on behalf of the landed elite in the Mail on Sunday on 24 February 2013? It displays such depths of ignorance and ill-informed
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