Minister will visit isles to hear crofters’ views

Crofting Minister Paul Wheelhouse has confirmed the Scottish Government will visit Shetland and speak to crofters as part of the work on reforming the failings of crofting law.

Speaking during the final stages of a parliamentary debate about the bill to fix the owner-occupier shambles, MSP Tavish Scott thanked many crofters in Shetland who brought the issue  to his attention and the minister for introducing a change to the law to resolve the matter.

Mr Scott said: “I want parliament to debate crofting for the right reasons; the quality of beef and lamb, breeding livestock production and active people in strong local communities. Instead, I fear parliament will be bogged down in an endless cycle of changes to crofting law which currently doesn’t work. That is why I welcome the Scottish Government visiting Shetland to sit down with local crofters, to define the problems and find the solutions which are desperately needed.”