Crofting Inquiry - Rannsachadh Croitearchd

The suggestion that any publicly owned land, such as that owned by our forestry commission be procured and basically snatched from the hands of the Socttish Population to further the lifestyle wishes of a few is fundementally wrong. All publicaly owned land should remain so. What Drew Ratter is proposing is that the utilitiy which could be utilised for the good of ALL be replaced with one which would benefit the few. For while crofts have an element of control placed over them they are still in effect privately owned and controlled, passed on through accident of birth.

While the is a case that town and city folk do not understand the country it is conversly the case that many of those in the country don't understand those in the town. This is about Mr Ratter politics and attitude rather than an attempt to nurture understanding and a sense of togetherness. It only serves to further push us apart and any wholescale theft of publically owned land for such narrow purposes will only serve to highlight this divide.

Maybe we should stop ranting about land grabs and the good of the few and look at the bigger picture with all this.

Our Crofters and Farmers work very hard in all weathers, but they not only do this, they do it with one hand and one leg tied behind their backs by pencil pushers.
As a country we are too interested in short term gain rather than long term sustainabilty. We import the cheapest foods and subsidise foriegn cattle and farmers?! All this while we tie our own farmers and crofters up in red tape so they cannot really make a true living out of their land.
Without crofters we wouldn't have some of the more beautiful places that tourists come to see ( where they also spend their money and help the economy.) But they find themselves in a position where to save their family home and childrens futures, they have no choice but for each adult member of the family to work on the croft and also in some other form of work. Sometimes working 80+ hour weeks. It's about time we as a country supported our local farmers and crofters and bought locally sourced produce and meat. It's also about time our Governments (Scottish, English and Welsh) whom we apparently elect, stopped these ridiculously cheap imports of infected meat & veg (among other things) and the stupid payments to foreign farmers and concentrated on looking after our own.

We raise some of the best meat and grow some of the best veg etc in this country, and we could quite easily be self sufficient as a country IF, we focus our reasources and support rather than hinder our farmers and crofters who keep this country green and beautiful as part of the package.

And before anyone thinks about throwing subsidies as an argument against what i have just said, please look at London first. They actually take MORE of the country's money than the rest of the UK put together. They just sit back quiet while the myth lives on about Scotland. It's not Scotland that's the issue, it's London and the rest of England & Wales should look at this more closely.

We shouldn't get too side tracked on the publicly owned land idea, as this land if protected properly by workable legislation would be in safer hands with true crofters just as it was for generations. It's not crofters land grabbing they are just trying to make an honest living. If you want to see true land grabbing take a look at your local supermarkets.