So Red Nicola Is Going To Seize Lairds' Lands For The Masses.....

[DTCwordfan]

Here beginneth the socialist revolution.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-33226303

Which legal system is going to object to this stripping of one's assets?

[sandyRoe]

The European Court of Human Rights? That's if they did it Mugabe style. Otherwise the tweedy Aristos will have nothing to do but count their money.

[kylesmum]

My sentiments exactly sandy !

Not sure she is going to actually seize their land, that statement is a tad ambiguous....good red top title for your thread though, certainly eye-catching :)

[Gromit]

Just 432 people own half the land in Scotland. And most of them do not live there. Politically it is a no brainer to change that.

The only problem is if people have to sell the land below market value, but thete is no indication that will happen.

The reason or excuse for the 'land grab' is that the current ownership is hampering economic development. As the SNP rule the roost in Scotland, and have a good representation in the Westminster Paliament, this is the perfect time for them to change this anomoly.

I do not own a vast estate in Scotland, so it is easy for me to back land reform. i would be interested to hear the arguments against this initiative as from my pint of view there will be a few hundred losers, and millions of winners.

[jno]

jump right in, Laird Gromit

http://www.scottishlandsales.co.uk/

[youngmafbog]

//there will be a few hundred losers, and millions of winners. //

Unless the land is developed badly of course.

And what does "half of the privately-owned land in Scotland is controlled by 432 people" actually mean. Anyone who owns a house owns the land (if the equivalent of freehold surely? So are there only 432 homeowners in Scotland? I knew they were tight - but thats going a bit far !

[Quizmonster]

Housing Associations are owned by people, but the Tory government seems to feel it can help itself to their properties to sell off cheaply, just as they did with council houses in the past. If Ms Sturgeon's plans are "socialist", then so are the Tory ones.

[Booldawg]

probably better for the environment to leave the countryside in the hands of the lairds. At least they are estate managed.

Hampering economic development can only be a good thing environmentally speaking.

[jno]

quite so, Quizmonster - and Tories are forever quoting Thatcher to the effect that socialists give other people's property away. Funny how they never wonder if right-to-buy council housing might have been other people's property.

[Retrochic]

Highland clearance once again - this time by one of their own?

[jno]

didn't the clearances involve driving people out of Scotland rather than making land available to them?

[Quizmonster]

As ever, J, it's pretty pointless trying to tell the usual suspects what the truth of any situation actually is!

[youngmafbog]

//As ever, J, it's pretty pointless trying to tell the usual suspects what the truth of any situation actually is!//

Nice statement to make when no one has said anything on your point !

[Retrochic]

My comment was made following a news report last night from one of the Scottish Islands where former Tenants of the Laird had just had their land taken off them that had been in their family for over 100 years. One of the Tenants described the 'Highland Clearance. In this case Lairds were taking back land from the tenanted farmers -maybe on the understanding that they are going to be paid handsomely for compulsory purchase under the proposed Land Reforms?

[Quizmonster]

Far from "paying them handsomely", I think the Scottish government should adopt what might be called the Billy Connolly Protocol as regards dealing with the lairds.
He once did a routine in which he said he was fishing a remote highland trout-stream when a tweedy gent appeared and asked him what on earth he thought he was doing. The man didn’t seem happy with Billy’s response and pointed out that the land and river were HIS.
“How did it become yours?” asked Billy.
“It was passed down to me by my ancestors,” he replied.
“Well, how did THEY get it?” Billy continued.
“They fought for it,” was the response.
“OK, get yer jaicket aff,” said Billy, “and I’ll fight YOU for it!”

Anyone who is genuinely interested in this situation should read a book called "The Poor Had No Lawyers" by Andy Wightman published by Birlinn Ltd. Its sub-title is "Who Owns Scotland and How They Got it".

The brief answer to the last four words there is, "They stole it." They achieved this by being the government by dint of their being the aristocrats and thus the people who made the laws and controlled the judges who administered them.
Does that ring any bells regarding today's situation involving the current government and their attitude to councils and housing associations?

[ToraToraTora]

looks like Jimmy K and the SW-SW are at it again!

[Ric.ror]

And now this


http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/24/queen-vacate-buckingham-palace-anti-monarchy-activists

They will be homeless before you know it

[whiskeryron]

Well said Quizmonster, if it was in my power you would get ''Best Answer'' for your reply.

[woofgang]

I suspect that much of that land won't be useful for much other than shooting over or maybe keeping certain breeds of sheep or wild hill ponies. It is rough and stony land without useful road access or energy and utility infrastructure. I have no opinion over who has the right to own it but I do scent the politics of envy creeping in here. I am not scots, nor a landowner apart from my home and small garden.

[Quizmonster]

Thanks for your kind comment, WR.

Yes, Woofgang, you've got your "home and small garden" and Princess Diana's brother, the 9th Earl Spencer - for instance - has Althorp House and some 13,000 acres of prime English soil!
It doesn't have to be envy that makes one see that comparison as somewhat unfair, surely! Let's face it, the English aristocracy gobbled up England on exactly the same basis as the Scottish aristocracy gobbled up Scotland.
Certainly, the first thing the Scottish government ought to do is scrap the tax-breaks John Major gave the lairds as regards allowing huntin’, shootin’ and fishin’ estates to pay no business rates. On what conceivable grounds can they be seen as not “businesses”, given what they rake in for their owners?
Go for it, Nicola!