…the blog and website of Andy Wightman
Following a European Court of Justice Ruling, the Scottish Government has removed all data on public subsidies paid to farmers from its website. The ruling stated that European legislation that obliges member states to publish data on the beneficiaries of
Continue readingLiam McArthur MSP (Orkney) has said that the Scotland Bill offers a good opportunity [link broken 2024] to devolve the Crown Estate’s power and control over Scotland’s seabed to local communities. Indeed it does. Presuming that Tavish Scott, Alan Reid,
Continue readingYesterday Scottish Secretary, Michael Moore published the Scotland Bill. What does it say about the future of Scotland’s public crown lands? First of all, it is worth remembering that the Calman Commission was nobbled by the Crown Estate Commission (CEC)
Continue readingThe Scottish Government has today launched a consultation [link broken May 2024] on proposals to enure Scotland and its local communities benefit from renewable and low carbon energy developments. This is a welcome initiative. The document makes some interesting points
Continue readingOne year ago, over 1.2 million Norwegians watched a film that was 7 hours long and that was shot by sticking a camera on the front of the train from Bergen to Oslo. It is wonderful. There’s a 10 minute
Continue readingAmidst all the press coverage of the student demonstration in London on Wednesday, one small question was niggling me as I watched the windows being smashed in Millbank Tower. Whose windows? Who owns Millbank Tower? As it happens, the same
Continue readingYesterday, the Scottish Government published its draft Long Leases Bill which is designed to convert any lease of over 175 years (with at least 100 years left to run) to full ownership. This follows a consultation earlier this year (responses
Continue readingCountry 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 readingBrian 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 readingphoto: Andrei Taranchenko via flickr Scottish Natural Heritage published a report last month which showed that ‘nature’ tourism is worth at least £1.4 billion to the Scottish economy. This includes contributions from activities such as walking, bird watching and canoeing.
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