Westminster Election Special

So Charles Kennedy says " Trust the Liberal Democrats",
but why should we?

Editorial

Filed 02 May 05
©www.land-care.org.uk

The leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Charles Kennedy, has been making great play about how his party can be trusted. Sadly, however, this is far from the case as witnessed - not in relation to what has happened in Iraq - but to what has happened in Scotland.

In Scotland the Liberal Democrat/Labour coalition have been in power in the devolved government at the Scottish Parliament for the past 6 years. Just reflect on what they promised through two Scottish elections and what has happened in relation to rural and other matters in Scotland.

Land Reform

To quote Jim Wallace (Deputy First Minister, Scottish Parliament, and leader of the Liberal Democrats in Scotland) when the Land Reform Bill (now Act) was being launched:

"Good landmanagers have nothing to fear from Land Reform"

What a travesty of the truth that was in terms of the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, that now is an essential part of Land Reform legislation.

What a travesty of the truth that was in terms of the Community Right to Buy, that now is an essential part of Land Reform legislation.

What a travesty of the truth that was in terms of the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003, that now is an essential part of the new legislation that controls land in Scotland. It has seriously disrupted the arrangements for farm tenancies, with farms virtually disappearing from the tenancy market.

Promising consultation and then ignoring it

Although there are many examples, one of the clearest is the way that the Land Reform consultation exercise was conducted. Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) - an agency of the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD) - acted as proposer, consultation organiser and judge and jury with regard to the responses - most of which they clearly ignored (1, 2).

The Land Management Contracts that were published so very late with regard to this year's applications for Single Farm Payment (central to the reformed Common Agricultural Policy) are little short of absurd in terms of fostering a "sustainable and thriving Scottish farming industry" (3, 4).

Look at the serious damage done to farming in Scotland on account of the Liberal Democrat/Labour coalition being obsessed with "the environment", whilst they damage the livelihoods of those who do most of the work looking after it - the farmers and landowners.

The Minister in charge of SEERAD is a Liberal Democrat, Ross Finnie. Read what he said at the SAC Outlook Conference "Benefiting from change" and try and reconcile that with the current situation in Scottish farming - which is little short of chaos.

Anti-Hunting (Scotland) Act

It was the Liberal Democrat/Labour coalition that introduced the anti-hunting bill (now Act) in Scotland, supposedly leading the world but along the wrong route. It took up so much valuable time in the Scottish Parliament when the Parliament should have been devoting its attentions to much more serious matters that affect the people of Scotland - such as its health service which had declined from being one of the best to a doubtful also-ran category. What about crime? And what have they done to our famous Scottish universities? Remember they have had 6 years in power so they cannot keep trying to blame matters on others.

What has happened to the Arts in Scotland

Sean Connery recently pointed out, when he could not get funding to promote Scottish photography, that there have been no less than 6 Ministers of Culture in the past 6 years. Others have pointed to the threatened demise of the internationally famous Scottish opera, and whether Pitlochry's famous Theatre in the Hills will be supported (5). All this under a Liberal Democrat/Labour Coalition that tells us that the Scottish economy is good, but is in serious difficulties.

The Economy

Look how the Liberal Democrat/Labour Coalition in Scotland has let the Scottish economy lag seriously behind that of the rest of the UK. According to the economic experts, Scotland's public sector now consumes around 54% of our gross domestic product. That compares with a figure for the UK as a whole of around 43%. Virtually all the experts agree that a public sector so large can only have a drag effect on economic growth (6)

According to a Parliamentary Answer obtained March 2005, since 1997 there have been 29 new quangos established in Scotland. The growth of the quango culture is having a stultifying effect on economic development. The Liberal Democrat/Labour coalition promised a bonfire of quangos.

The population of Scotland is in decline, and Scotland is the only part of the UK for which this is true.

According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor the proportion of Scots expected to start a business in the next three years in 2004 was 6.6% against a figure for the UK as a whole of 9.5% - an extremely wide and worrying gap.

The Liberal Democrats want to put up taxes for those who are financially successful, rather than concentrating on cutting out massive government waste.

Sir David Steele, Liberal Democrat, was Presiding Officer when the new Scottish Parliament building was being constructed. The costs were allowed to run out of control on a monstrous scale through poor supervision - and, of course, quite contrary to what had been promised.

With the Liberal Democrat/Labour Coalition in power over the past 6 years, Scotland has lost most of its fishing industry and is heading to loose most of its quality livestock industry. Yet they have consistently claimed that they want to see a thriving "sustainable" fishing and farming industries. They say one thing and the result is another.

We surely know that the Labour Party is not to be trusted (be it under Blair or Brown), but we also surely know - from their performance in Scotland - that neither is the Liberal Democrat Party. So why should we believe that the Liberal Democrats south of the border would behave any better?

So what is happening about the EC?

During the current election campaign there is a strange quietness about the European Commission, where all these directives come from. Clearly it is very important to know how the different parties stand with regard to the ever greater influence of the EC and our country's subservience to it. Yet hardly a word in this election campaign as to who is going to represent us in Westminster. But in Scotland the Liberal Democrats, along with their Labour colleagues, appear to be rather too pro EC - probably for their own personal good, rather than that of the voters. At least the Tories have made noises that they would support coming out of the EC Common Fisheries Policy that has caused so much damage to the Scottish fishing fleet (7). They have also clearly signalled "no" to the proposed European Constitution`

Who is to be trusted?

Perhaps the letter writer to the Scottish Farmer this week is correct (8). In his view, the Conservative Party is the only major party that has learnt the painful lesson of EU membership - and hopefully other lessons too - and just might be the best bet.

But trust is a scarce commodity among the political parties at the present time. Provided they have learnt from their past mistakes, the conservatives might just have a bit more of it than the others. At least that is the way it appears to be in the eyes of this reviewer in Scotland.

References

1. Irvine, James (2003). Does SNH conduct itself as an honest broker, or as a political manipulator?
See SCOTTISH OU|TDOOR ACCESS CODE Homepage, filed 25 Oct 03, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

2. Editorial (2003). Redrafted SNH Scottish Outdoor Access Code pays little heid to consultation responses.
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 02 Dec 03, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

3. Editorial (2005). "Increased flexibility for farmers" announces the Scottish Executive: but far too late for 2005 summer grazings.
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 11 Apr 05, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

4. Irvine, James (2005). Land Management Contracts analyzed: item 10 - biodiversity cropping on inbye. Surely the stupidest of them all.
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 14 Mar 05, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

5. Linklater, Magnus (2005). Linklater's Scotland - Pitlochry theatre. Scotland on Sunday 10th April. Reproduced on land-Care by permission
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 15 Apr 05, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

6. Fraser, Murdo (2005). "Towards a modern rural economy: enterprise or regulation" Part 5: Session 4a. Scottish Countryside Alliance Conference "Getting the balance right : rural Scotland 2005". 12th April, Edinburgh
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 02 May 05, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

7. Stevenson, Struan (2003). Fishing for a future.
See FISHING Homepage, filed 09 Jan 03, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

8. Zawadski, Christopher (2005). Choosing the right party. Scottish Farmer, April 30, p7

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