…the blog and website of Andy Wightman
As someone engaged in asking questions about land and its ownership, I have always been aware of the paucity of academic study of land tenure and ownership. That striking absence has, in part, motivated my ongoing investigations. So it
Continue readingUPDATE 0900 18 May 2012 A spokesperson for Mr Salmond told the West Highland Free Press that “it is too early to give any details of what the First Minister might say.” I’m delighted to report that Alex Salmond has
Continue readingDuke Richard, the 10th Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, KBE BBC Scotland’s Business and Economy Editor, Douglas Fraser, conducted a fascinating interview with John Glen, Chief Executive of the Buccleuch Group yesterday (online report here & audio file here). There
Continue readingA number of people in the SNP have been trying to persuade me that the Scottish Government is serious about getting land reform back on track. I am prepared to accept this once I see the evidence. Meanwhile events suggest
Continue readingI have been on a quest for some time to fathom why on earth the SNP Government is not doing more (doing anything in fact) on land reform. It has announced a new Scottish Land Fund but that is simply
Continue readingI am grateful to Lallands Peat Worrier for his comments on a draft of this blog. A dispute over a farm in East Lothian may be responsible for the second time in two months for the provisions of an Act
Continue readingLandownership in rural Scotland remains hugely concentrated in the hands of very few large landowners. Whilst the kinds of reforms that might change this appear to be on the back-burner as far as the Scottish government is concerned, there is
Continue readingPictured above is Rob Bain of Ardoch, Deeside, Aberdeenshire who died in July, 2010. Rob was the son of Jean Bain, the last native speaker of Deeside Gaelic who died in 1984. In an interview with Sheena Blackhall, Rob
Continue readingAs the Land Registration etc. (Scotland) bill makes its way through Parliament, those of us who wish to see a crackdown on tax havens being used to record title to land in Scotland might care to recall this story of
Continue readingLast week saw the 10th anniversary of the Stage 1 debate on the Land Reform (Scotland) bill in the Scottish Parliament. It is interesting to note some of the statements made by MSPs at the time. Column numbers are in
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