[theo_luddite]

Aye - but those polls were taken before the "MEPs vote to add Channel and British Virgin Islands to tax haven blacklist" (see my post above) hit the news stands. Right now, that doesn't affect the vast majority of folk in Scotland, but you can expect the rich landowners (and the rest) with money/profits in overseas tax havens to start pulling every string they've got to turn as many of those votes around as they need to make sure they don't end up paying EU taxes on their wealth. Expect as many dirty tricks as Bodgit and co. used to justify Brexit, if not more.

[BouncingHibees]

77 known cases of South African variant in UK

Mr Hancock told the BBC's Andrew Marr there are 77 known cases of the COVID variant, first found in South Africa, in the UK.

These are all under close observation, and are connected with travel to and from the country.

Meanwhile, nine cases of the variant first found in Brazil in the UK.

There has been no community transmission of any of these cases (that we know of)

[0762]

Aye - but those polls were taken before the "MEPs vote to add Channel and British Virgin Islands to tax haven blacklist" (see my post above) hit the news stands. Right now, that doesn't affect the vast majority of folk in Scotland, but you can expect the rich landowners (and the rest) with money/profits in overseas tax havens to start pulling every string they've got to turn as many of those votes around as they need to make sure they don't end up paying EU taxes on their wealth. Expect as many dirty tricks as Bodgit and co. used to justify Brexit, if not more.

There already is a "dirty tricks campaign" going on to try to get at certain elements of the Scottish voting population Theo. Thankfully it is committed by the "usual suspects" media/press channels such as the Daily Scum, the Daily Sexpress and The Daily "fascist" Mail. The bbc is even sadly in on this political conspiracy to denigrate the Scot govt but Scottish opinion is holding firm - seen all the shit before in 2014 and beyond to Brexit 2016!! Most Scots of any political persuasion don't read these shit heid tabloids any more - the reduction in readership of print newspapers is one of the biggest "hits" in Europe as lotsa Scots have sussed out what their dirty tricks politics and relative headlines are all about! It is similar to the regard Liverpudlians have for the Daily Scum. Also I wanna see the Martin Keatings court case against the Brit govt materialise asap as thousands and thousands of Scots like myself have financed a legal challenge against the Brit govt having any legal right whatsoever to tell a Scottish population when they are allowed to hold a referendum - MOST SCOTS NOT HAVING THAT KINDA OUTRAGEOUS SHIT "THROWN IN OUR FACES BY POSH-SPOKEN SCUMBAGS LIKE JOHNSON AND OTHERS"!!! IMO it is a win-win situation where if the case is won in the Edinburgh Court of Session then that "blows the whole constitutional question out of the water" once and for all. If Keatings loses this court case then this provides "ammunition" to the whole Scottish independence movement to mobilise on that premise where a southern bully has been given the legal right to effectively rule over Scottish affairs/Scottish matters while highlighting/comparing the EVEL (English votes for English laws) ruling that applies in the Westminster parliament and omits any Scot MPs influence on such votes. I would just add to any Scottish reader - imagine reversing the situation to England and having about 90% of English media/newspapers peddling the Scotindy case to the English populace. Imagine the Scot Parliament patronising any democratic English political suggestions at every opportunity and being given the majority media/press coverage to regularly do this. I could continue with this "reverse scenario" but I'm sure you get my drift - THEY WOULD SIMILARLY NOT PUT UP WITH THIS KINDA UNDEMOCRATIC SHIT/DIKTAT AND THAT'S A FACT!! As for Scottish landowners and wealthy Scottish benefactors up here?? All I can say is they, and their backers within their elite little group, are in a minority and that position will remain so or a long time to come. They should fear a future Scot Land Reform Act which will eventually be drafted and will affect them in the years to come - long overdue in a country where about 14 people own most of the land mass within a sovereign country called Scotland - an absolute disgrace and there is so much work required to undo this disproportionate distribution of wealth and land ownership. I reflect with disdain the fact that it is 21st century Scotland where I reside and I'm still debating antiquated stuff like this!!

[theo_luddite]

Biggest landowners apparently are The Church of England and a couple from Denmark.

[0762]

Just like the Danish couple, I believe about 40% of these people don't even come from this country. There might even be the odd Russian oligarch in there!

[ritchiebaby]

I believe that only 6% of Scottish land titles (different from acreage of course) is owned by people from outside Scotland, including a Dubai Sheik and those who want to indulge in "tax avoidance" schemes. Much of the land is owned by government agencies and public bodies - like Forestry and Land Scotland, the RSPB and the National Trust.

[0762]

I stand corrected and just assumed that it was roughly anything between 30-40% with a lotta this ownership assigned to foreign investment in random land holdings/businesses all over Scotland. I'm gonna take a closer look at this and return to this subject as a matter of course although I acknowledge there is a noted difference between titles and acreage. There is some good reference to this contentious subject from the likes of the recently awarded journalist, Lesley Riddoch, who has a passionate interest in radical land reform being deployed in Scotland plus small holding ownership of "huts"/but n bens similar to the common ownership of these kinda family owned small properties/huts that has existed in Norway for a very long time.
I know that the Scottish Land Commission was set up in 2017 and has been actively undertaking research and publishing policy papers on a wide range of topics such as compulsory sale orders, land value capture and, importantly, human rights. There was a previous review group whose work led to the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 - it emphasised that land policy should equally enhance and uphold human rights (to housing for example). Land reform is ultimately about changing the legal, administrative and fiscal relationship between society and land in order to deliver public policy in areas such as housing, development, the environment, agriculture and forestry. The potential gains are immense and a radical prog of reform in the years to come could fundamentally alter the nature and distribution of power in Scotland. As said previously - lots of work still to do although some inroads have clearly been made in Scotland since feudal tenure was finally abolished in 2004. Yes, believe it - as late as 2004!! Moving to the wealth factor in Scotland, note that pre-pandemic it was reckoned that with wealth distribution the top 10% owned about two hundred times more wealth than the bottom 10% (a median wealth of £1.3M compared to £6k). Indeed the wealthiest 10% owned about 43% of all wealth in Scotland. Wealth distribution was hugely uneven as indicated. The least wealthy 40% only owned about 5%! Also noted was the fact that some of the wealthiest people in Scotland lived elsewhere incl low tax countries such as Monaco or the Isle of Man.

[BouncingHibees]

Boris Johnson solution to companies missing out because of Brexit like fishermen......set up a company in Europe..

[ritchiebaby]

0762, I certainly didn't mean to imply that your figures needed alteration, just that I knew of a different calculation. The Duke of Buccleuch, still Scotland's largest landowner, has recently sold moorland in Dumfriesshire to a local initiative group (at a suitable price of course). The Duke's forebears were gifted all of his lands by a grateful Scottish king for "services rendered" about 500 years ago, so that's where all the inequalities of land ownership began.

---

On a totally different subject, I'm interested in the notion of a 24/7 vaccination programme. Surely such a programme would require twice as many nurses, etc (which we don't have) to administer the vaccines, as well as a quicker supply of vaccines (which we don't have). Added to which, I understand that each vaccination requires 2 sterilised needles - one to fill the syringe from the vial and one to inject the patient from the syringe.

[0762]

Aye Ritchie! The Duke of Buccleuch is one titled name that is well up in my own list of well known/"heeled" individuals who still own so much land in Scotland. Also re these great govt initiatives that are "rolled out" now n again, one must note that they the staffing of said initiatives is never mentioned and that is indeed one of the biggest challenges that they don't wanna talk.
And Bouncinghibees, re that shameless Johnson suggestion to the distraught fishermen who have clearly been "shafted" - no apology, nothing but another unthinking piece of buffoonery from a moron who should never have been anywhere near the position of a UK PM and now continues to behave like the buffoon that he actually is and does it with utter arrogance and contempt. Just watch some of this buffoon's spiteful performances against Scottish MPs in the HoC debating chamber alone - he hardly answers pertinent questions at all and is allowed to respond with some of the most disingenuous shameful drivel and antagonism against elected representatives of a devolved country. Outrageous and deserving of a "sair face" in other similar circumstances!!