Scotland is the only country in the West which still has the
kind of medieval feudal land ownership laws which have
allowed 432 people to come to own 42% of Scotland’s rural
land between them.
Most of these land owners are foreign landlords who do not
live in Scotland but own the land for investment, private
luxury recreation, and formerly for extremely generous EU
‘farming’ subsidies.
These 432 people between them own 4 times as much of
rural Scotland as is in total public ownership.
This is deeply exploitative of the entire nation of Scotland.
The Scots are refused access to much of their own country,
which is in private and foreign hands.
The largest landowner in Scotland is a Danish fashion
magnate who cannot by law buy huge estates of land in
strongly regulated, Social Democratic, Denmark, and so
now owns enough of Scotland to be able to prevent entire
industries from locating in areas he personally controls.
He is the largest landlord in all the UK and owns
220,000 acres of Scottish land. He bought these 12 estates
at the bargain basement price of £70 million, an amount of
capital that is far less than 1% of of his estimated $12
billion in personal wealth.
This Danish individual bought a very substantial
amount of all Scotland for a smaller personal cost than
when you or I buy a washing machine or a fridge.
That this is possible is a disgrace and an embarrassment
that can only happen to a heavily oppressed nation of
people who do not control their own laws. Wealthy
foreigners take their land and their resources and their country away from them
and they are too weak to prevent it.
Independent Scotland will not be this weak.
Scottish land reform is hundreds of years overdue. All of
these absentee and generationally inherited aristocratic
estates and landlords would be removed by law and the
land of Scotland would be again owned by the Scots public.
This would immediately open up enormous areas of
empty land for the construction of new towns and industries
and road infrastructure. We would have fewer private golf
courses and a lot more social housing.
Currently these 400 private landlords are controlling
the towns and villages and industries of the Highlands and
Islands by using their wealth to bully local councils
regarding spaceports, exclusive luxury private resorts and
Trump golf courses and spa hotels.
These landlords do not give a second thought to the
residents of these rural areas, preferring to cater to the
foreign rich and their expensive recreation. The local
people are there only to provide servant staff.
Land reform in an Independent Scotland will end all of
this immediately and forever. Local residents will control
their local environment and its ability to generate industries.
