Scottish Affairs Committee 9 February 2011
Below is the video of my evidence session at the Scottish Affairs Committee of the House of Commons yesterday, 9 February 2011. My evidence starts at 16:13:30 [link broken July 2024]
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Scottish Affairs Committee 2 February 2011
This meeting of the Scottish Affairs Committee on 2 February 2011 contains interesting evidence from Professor Sir Kenneth Calman and Professor Jim Gallagher relating to the Crown Estate from 15:33 to 15:44. A written transcript is not yet available (9
Continue readingLocal Forestry Boards to manage public forests
(This Comment piece was published in The Herald on 4 February 2010.) The debate in England about the future of the public forest estate is now causing some serious discomfort for the coalition government as MPs are flooded with letters
Continue readingScotland Bill and the Crown Estate
Today I submitted my written evidence to the Scotland Bill Committee of the Scottish Parliament. I am calling for the Crown Estate Commissioners to be removed from any role in the administration of Scotland’s Crown rights. This is a historic
Continue readingLong Leases (Scotland) Bill
I have today submitted written evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee on the Long Leases (Scotland) Bill. It focusses on the impact the Bill will have on common good land. Those following this matter may also be interested in
Continue readingLand Registration
The Scottish Government consultation on land registration closed on 30 November 2010. Apart from the professional classes in property and law, it received little publicity or attention from civil society in Scotland. This reflects a long tradition of legal reforms
Continue readingWho Owns Britain?
Country Life have published a piece on who owns Britain and appear to be surprised that things have changed quite a bit since 1872! They should get out more often. The piece was puffed up in the Telegraph [link broken
Continue readingThe future of farming subsidies
Brian Pack has today published his final report on the future of farming support in Scotland. Among a number of recommendations, he argues that there should be no cap on individual payments of public subsidies for farming (page 69 of
Continue readingCould the aspirant First Minister get his facts right?
I don’t want to be a pedant but it is symptomatic of much political debate about land reform that the wrong things are said about some important matters which, if not corrected, serve only to confuse. In Iain Gray’s speech
Continue readingHerald Review of The Poor had no Lawyers
Harry Reid’s review of my new book in the Herald today (30 October 2010) makes exhilarating reading. I am particularly impressed by the presentation they gave it against the stunning background of a Colin Mearns photograph of South Uist (I
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