Scottish politicians can’t be ‘arrogant strangers’ to farmers
© Adobe Stock Many readers may have never heard of the Scottish folk music revival. Bands such as Peat and Diesel, Skerryvore and Skippinish might have passed them by.
But in rural Scotland these bands are household names and the lyrics and messages of certain songs ring true with many challenges that the rural UK faces today.
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The song summarises that this is resulting in the 19th-century Highland clearances happening all over again.
It’s not my favourite song by the band, but I can relate to most of the lyrics.
Urban-centric politics
The issues faced by farming are felt most acutely in remote areas, where margins are razor-thin and the impacts of events locally and nationally can cause many businesses to reduce output or close.
This decay spreads into mainland businesses. Markets, suppliers and livestock buyers all mourn the loss of produce that once came off these remote places, as well as the loss of business selling products back to them.
From non-existent ferries and denial of road infrastructure (halting A9 duelling project), to enforcing unwanted national parks and marine protection grounds, rural Scotland has endless storms to weather.
Urban-centric politics coupled with out of touch “green” thinking, has bogged down Scottish agricultural policy to its axles and, to quote Skipinnish, “condemned [rural] culture and tradition”.
I don’t think rural Scotland is even considered when implementing policy.
The wood-stove ban in new housing is both ludicrous and dangerous for rural communities.
Rural communities are fragile and it pains me to see less farming activity in our Highlands and Islands.
The Short Term Lets legislation, rolled out across the country to solve an Edinburgh-based housing issue, lumps further strain and expense on agri-tourism nationwide.
However, after Labour’s general election win and the way they painted central Scotland red, the swings and roundabouts of UK-wide politics will kick into gear once again.
English and Welsh farmers will feel the sting of detrimental rural policy with this new Westminster government.
But those Labour MP wins in Scotland must have sent a massive wake-up call to the SNP-dominated Scottish government.
Since the turn of this decade, Scottish agricultural policy and many other real issues affecting Scots have been left in the doldrums while Holyrood chased passion projects.
With the sheen of invincibility now ripped off SNP politicians and the Greens no longer in their pocket, MSPs will have to stop being “arrogant strangers,” as the song puts it, and compete for votes.
Rural decline
Rural communities are fragile and it pains me to see less farming activity in our Highlands and Islands.
Other land uses such as forestry and tourism in their current form don’t provide a sustainable, year-round alternative to rural places, feeding back much less economically and socially into the areas than the family farms and crofts they displace.
The UK’s rural population is in decline and further pressure on a strained system from ignorant policies only serves to push out more rural residents.
Bill Clinton was on to something when he said “it’s the economy, stupid”.
Let business flourish and keep people on the land.
If the UK and devolved governments are serious about stopping the rot of rural depopulation, then properly supporting rural areas with infrastructure and better scrutinising policies on how they affect rural businesses would be a start.