The Scottish Labour party is to the left of British New Labour. The Scottish multi-party government has just introduced a law permitting crofters to buy their land from the great landlords who depopulated so much of Scotland 200 hundred years ago. It also gives whole communities the right to buy when property comes up for sale. It also allows unrestricted walking over private land so long as the walker behaves reasonably.
Those are the headlines. Perhaps someone has a more precise summary. Although land remains privately owned, this is a significant shift in the legal concept of private land ownership powerfully in the direction of socialisation. Congratulations to the Scots! Chris Burford London
