By Bill Heaney
It was a day for tweeds, a Sherlock Holmes fore and aft hat, a waxed jacket and green wellingtons at the Scottish Parliament today.
The Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, Jim Fairlie, from the beautiful hills of Perthshire that stretch down to Ben Vorlich, Argyllshire and the banks of Loch Lomond, was bursting with pride.
Mr Fairlie, pictured here with First Minister Humza Yousaf, told MSPs: “I am honoured to present to the Scottish Parliament my first bill as a minister. My boyhood ambition was to get a glimpse of my favourite bird of prey, the peregrine falcon.
“Never for a moment did I believe that I would one day be standing in this chamber putting legislation through our Parliament that will, I hope, finally rid us of the scourge that has seen too many of those magnificent birds, and many others, disappear—the scourge of illegal persecution perpetrated by a tiny minority, who just do not accept that that will simply no longer be tolerated by Scottish society or the industry that they shame.”
Not everyone was so content. The traps and snares of the countryside remained evident metaphorically in the Holyrood chamber.
Finlay Carson MSP of Galloway and West Dumfries, asked Mr Fairlie why proposals contained in parts of the legislation, in particular those on snaring and glue traps had not been brought forward earlier and had brought uncertainty about the Government’s position, right up to the very last minute.
Jim Fairlie responded: “There were those who disagreed with the principles of the bill, but if the grouse-shooting community had shut down raptor persecution—stopped the killing of our most iconic birds of prey—we would not have had to legislate in this way.
“Sadly, that community did not shut it down, so it is now up to us to make sure that it does so. It is for that reason that the bill is before us today.”
A sea eagle fishing for salmon in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.
However, he pointed out that the issue was not just about raptor persecution but how grouse moors could be managed more sustainably and a breadth of topics, including muirbuirn for the taking of red grouse “and several other important matters”.
He added: “There are measures to better protect animals by regulating the use of traps and giving enhanced powers to officers of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, to help them to support the police in their efforts to tackle wildlife crime.
“We are—finally—banning the use of snares. We are banning not only the use of glue traps but their possession and sale—going further than any other country in the United Kingdom.
“The bill has caused concern for folk who work legally and responsibly in moorland pursuits, and I completely understand that.
“However, I am clear that there should be no victory parade, and I reassure them that the Government recognises their economic contribution—and, just as important, their work in combating biodiversity loss and guarding against the risk of wildfires.
“We value that immensely. As often as not, keepers are on the front line beside our fire and rescue services, protecting local communities when fire breaks out.
“They are a highly-skilled standing army of vital volunteers in our rural and remote areas—the very places that we are looking to protect—and I thank them for their continued efforts.”
“Although we may not have agreed on everything, I hope that members see that we have tried to find a balance and common ground. That has helped us to achieve clarity and a workable bill, which has been made better through members listening to each other, and which the industry will embrace and ultimately benefit from.
“I commit to working with people from all sides, and for those people to be fully involved in the work that NatureScot will now lead on to implement those schemes, not least to complete the development of the grouse moor and muirbuirn codes of practice that will accompany the bill.”
There are concerns out there still. Rachael Hamilton (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire), asked for clarity on whether there will be a retrospective angle to the granting of such a licence.
“Would a historical offence be a lawful basis for refusing to grant a licence in the first place,” she asked and was told that issue would be addressed by NatureScot.
Mr Fairlie, moving that the bill should be adopted, said: “Amid a climate and biodiversity crisis, science and research are demonstrating to us all that some practices undertaken in the past, such as draining peatland, are harmful, despite the fact that we thought that they were advantageous at the time. Oh, for the gift of hindsight. Others are simply no longer going to be tolerated.
Conservative Rachael Hamilton, Labour’s Rhoda Gant and LibDem Beatrice Wishart took part in the debate on the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill.
“The aims of the bill are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to manage wildlife while ensuring the highest standards of animal welfare. People who live and work on our land do so every day.
“It is possible to undertake muirbuirn in a manner that does not damage fragile ecosystems and brings positive benefits for rural communities.
“It is possible to support activities that contribute immensely to our rural economy, such as grouse shooting, while at the same time taking a zero-tolerance approach to raptor persecution and wildlife crime.
“We may have our differences of opinion in the chamber, but one thing that I know for sure is that there is an unwavering commitment to protect our wildlife, support our rural businesses and protect our iconic moorlands. That is why the bill is so important.
“If members vote to pass it today, we will vote to end the stain and the shame of raptor persecution, put animal welfare at the forefront of responsible land management, and support the hard-working people in our rural communities—those highly responsible grouse moor managers who manage their land in an environmentally sustainable manner that will give long-term security to them and their families.”
The politic refused to be kicked under the Presiding Officer’s podium however and Rachael Hamilton took an inevitable dig at the government.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and his deputy Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie on a day away with the birds on Loch Lomondside.
She said: “Scrutinising this bill has been an eye-opening experience for my colleagues and me. The extent to which the Scottish National Party-Green Government has ignored evidence and side-lined science has been, frankly, astonishing—but why should I have been surprised?
“After all, we have had a raft of bills and policies since the SNP has been in power that have been completely off the mark. Take gender recognition reform, the deposit return scheme, the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023, highly protected marine areas and the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021—which, of course, comes into force on April Fool’s day. You could not make it up.”
Members across the chamber had been assured that the catalyst for the bill was the Scottish Government’s independent review of grouse moor management and that they were implementing the review’s recommendations.
She maintained: “This was at best ‘a gross mischaracterisation’. The review in 2019 was very clear that the licensing of grouse shooting—the flagship provision of this bill—would be implemented only if, within five years, the ecological favourability of grouse moors in relation to three key raptor species had not been improved. I think that bringing forward a bill because people have lost patience is entirely the wrong way to do it. Legislation should be evidence and science led.
“Raptor persecution is at a historic low. Let us be clear that ministers ploughed on with implementing the bill and, in effect, ignored the flagship recommendation of their own independent review, which was commissioned by ministers and cost £86,000.
“The disdain that this Government seems to have for evidence-led policy making and independent arbitration is, frankly, shocking.”
Ms Hamilton said the Conservatives were also unhappy about the provision of enhanced powers for the SSPCA to investigate wildlife crime.
Ministers had commissioned an independent task force to consider whether the SSPCA should be given enhanced powers and it concluded that the extension of such powers would not be appropriate without the institutional support of the police and the Crown Office.
She added: “”Yet, despite receiving a crystal-clear recommendation calling for partnership working over enhanced powers, yet again, ministers rode roughshod over it. What is the point of commissioning independent review after independent review if ministers ignore them?
“In reality, SNP ministers do not care about the bill or the people who are set to be impacted by it. They do not care about independent arbitration, evidence-led policy making, and the wildlife that the bill is likely to affect. The bill is a shameful reflection of the Government’s derision for rural Scotland. It is for all those reasons that the bill has ended up being conceptually flawed.
“Ministers appear to have no understanding of proportionality, which should be a central component of every bill that is put before the Parliament. In effect, a bill should go no further than is required to achieve its policy aim. Ministers’ appetite for punishing landlords for anything and everything knows and sees no bounds—a fact that has crystallised in other legislation that has been passed in this place.”
Rachael Hamilton said she believes “the genesis of the licensing scheme comes down to one issue and one issue only: raptor persecution, the prevalence of which is, thankfully, now at historically low levels. Raptor persecution was a problem on Scotland’s grouse moors in the past, but it has been largely consigned to the history books, with on-going issues now limited to a tiny minority. To be clear, Scottish Conservatives condemn that minority, who should be punished with full force. Overall, the bill is the product of disinterested and unevidenced policy making, exacerbated by disproportionality in the flagship provision. Scottish Conservatives will always stand up for Scotland, and rural Scotland in particular. As such, we will not be supporting the bill at decision time.”
Labour’s Rhoda Grant, who represents the Highlands and Islands, said: “The regulation of grouse moors is not a new issue. It is not something that was raised only recently. However, it is a shame that behaviour regarding raptor persecution has not changed sufficiently in the intervening years. We are now licensing grouse moors because of that behaviour, and I hope that grouse moor owners realise that they are on notice. If illegal raptor persecution on grouse moors does not stop, I am sure that there will be further legislation.
“I am not a fan of grouse moors. I cannot understand how someone gets pleasure from killing a living thing for sport. However, the bill is not about banning grouse moors; it is about putting them on notice. I was interested to learn from the evidence that we heard that other species, such as curlew, merlin and golden plover, thrive on grouse moors. There is something to be learned from the management of grouse moors about how we can provide habitats for those birds, to encourage their numbers and protect them in the future. A huge amount of knowledge on land and habitat management is held on those moors and we need to learn from that, regardless of our opinion of the purpose of grouse moors
Scottish Liberal Beatrice Wishart, from Shetland, said: “From the beginning of the bill process, the Scottish Liberal Democrats have been broadly supportive of the legislation. We committed to implementing the recommendations of the grouse moor management group.
“Raptor persecution is a serious problem in some parts of Scotland, particularly in areas that are linked to driven grouse shooting. We heard another report just four hours ago on STV about a missing hen harrier called Shalimar, which is the fourth bird to disappear suspiciously from the Angus glens.
“Of the 131 tagged golden eagles that were analysed in 2017, 41 birds suspiciously disappeared and were assumed to have been killed. Since the report was published, RSPB Scotland has reported the sudden stop, or “no malfunction”, of satellite tags of a further eight golden eagles, 21 hen harriers, five white-tailed eagles and a red kite on Scottish grouse moors.
“We also know that Merrick, the female golden eagle, who was translocated from the Angus glens to the South Scotland region, was reported missing; she was last recorded on 12 October 2023 in an area of the Scottish Borders that is associated with grouse moor management.
“The bill will include monitoring and reporting on, and improving, investigation powers for any incidents that are reported. The Scottish Government recognises that grouse shooting contributes immensely to the rural economy, and the bill is not about stopping that activity.
“It is interesting to note that, while we keep hearing that the Scottish National Party doesnae care about rural, there are 29 SNP members in the chamber and online, and only five Tories in the chamber and three online. It is interesting to see those numbers.”