Land reform

Brian Wilson (Perspective, 22 December) used to be a campaigning journalist, then he was an effective junior minister who set the pace for land reform… now he seems to be an oppositionist to all the work of the Scottish Parliament.

First, the Land Reform Act was passed in 2016 (not 2013, as he says). It has a raft of secondary legislation, much like the 2003 Act did, which takes time to be enacted systematically.

Mr Wilson talks of a right to buy for “demonstrably or disused” land being consigned by the SNP government to “cold storage”. Actually, abandoned and neglected land as a prompt for community purchase was consulted on and is due to be enacted next year.

If all powers actually resided in Holyrood, extending the right to buy for tenant farmers might be possible. Has Mr Wilson forgotten that the landlords won cases on the grounds of the breach of their human rights under ECHR?

As for his conversion to land value taxes, I’m glad to say that Scottish Labour agrees with the SNP and the Greens that it is needed soon. How different local government would be if the big lairds paid out each year for use by local councillors.

That is the part aim of the overwhelming majority in the Scottish Parliament in favour of the current land reform acts and future steps. Why not acknowledge this and back Scotland’s land reform journey?

ROB GIBSON (former MSP, convener of the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment committee

2011-2106) Culcairn Road Evanton, Ross-shire