Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Class war for Scotland's land

432 people own half of Scotland’s private land, while 0.025 per cent of the population owns 67 per cent of Scotland’s rural land. In terms of distribution of ownership, Scotland is one of the most unequal countries in the world.

Islay - off the west coast of Scotland - is home to 3,000 people but most of the island is owned by just a few wealthy men. Lord Margadale of Islay Estates owns around a third of the island. The neighbouring island of Jura is owned by Lord Astor, whose step-daughter Samantha Cameron is married to the prime minister David Cameron.

Under the  Scottish Government's new Land Reform Bill ministers say they want to encourage more community ownership and ensure land is used in the public interest. The Bill also includes plans to create a land register, aiming to increase transparency over ownership. Private trusts are reckoned, in property and land, to be worth £500bn in Scotland, according to the Scots Law Commission,

Holyrood also plans to scrap tax breaks for shooting estates in Scotland. 

Landowners and lairds have accused them of waging "a class war".

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