Scottish Labour force SNP to strengthen Land Reform Bill

Commenting after the meeting of the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee, held to discuss the Land Reform Bill, Sarah Boyack MSP, Scottish Labour spokesperson for Environmental Justice said:

“The committee has been drip fed the Scottish Government’s changing positions on key elements of the Bill and it was important that as Opposition members we were able to get clarity on the Scottish Government’s position. Given the huge public interest in this Bill I was particularly keen to get on the record the fact that we need substantial changes before the Bill lives up to the aspirations we have for it.

The Land Reform Bill initially proposed by Ministers simply didn’t meet the aspirations we have for tackling inequality and making better use of our land in the interests of communities. As a result of pressure significant amendments were made to the Bill which will strengthen its purpose and increase transparency.

I welcome the fact that my amendment was supported to record that community rights need to sit alongside individual rights. The key debate was on the issue of increasing transparency on ownership. We were determined that amendments were approved to address the fact that we need clarity on the ownership of land but the SNP voted this down.

I am determined that Scottish Labour will continue to work on a cross party basis to strengthen this legislation. We will continue to press SNP Ministers for changes to be made in advance of the Parliament’s Stage 3 consideration of bill.”

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7 thoughts on “Scottish Labour force SNP to strengthen Land Reform Bill

  1. Is this true?

    If the current situation is as inadequate as suggested by Sarah Boyack, why didn’t the Labour Party tackle this inequality during the first eight years of the Scottish Parliament? After all, she was a government minister at one stage.

  2. Wow!

    Labour stoop to claim the victory……

    So ….. the SNP hold a conference….packed to the rafters by enthusiastic members, one of the main debates involved the presentation of the land reform bill to the members for acceptance, the debate was robust and in depth, when a motion was called the party leaders asked that the membership accept……it was a close call but the bill was rejected by the members and sent back for revision…….

    but of course, it wasn’t that the SNP have to listen to their members, heaven forbid , Labour haven’t done that in decades…….no…no…no….

    The reason the bill waas altered was a few minority MSPs from Labour ” forced” the SNP to change it…….to suit their aspirations for tackling inequality…..something they never did in power….

    yes …..I can see it now.

    Seriously?

    1. Its just risible is it not? They cant even persuade their own membership to elect the party leader they want yet they try and claim they can force a majority Scottish Government to change policy direction.

      They still think they can win back the electorate using the bare faced lie approach.

      1. I think they have abandoned all pretense of policy and now just go for the Barefaced Lie Repeated often and Loudly” approach in the hpe there are still some gullible people out there

  3. This is a joke, right?
    What, exactly, are the Scottish Labour Land Reform proposals?
    What would they cost, and how would they be funded?

  4. I have to admit, I laughed out loud when I saw this article. Scottish Labour is a hollow organisation now, bereft of any meaning or direction. Its time for those in the party with a genuine desire to make things better for Scotland and the Scottish peoples to abandon it and either join the SNP (influencing it from within) or form their own Independent Scottish Labour Party.

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