Shetland MSP, Tavish Scott, has accused the Scottish Government’s draft Crofting Reform Bill of failing to provide the help crofters need, while imposing more red tape on them.Tavish Scott MSP: Shetland

Commenting on the draft Bill, Tavish Scott said, "This bureaucratic legislation from the SNP won't help one crofter with the financial pressures they face. It is legislation for the sake of legislation.

“It is based on the Shucksmith Report into the future of crofting. But that report proposed real financial help for crofters and the Government have ignored all of those proposals. This is wrong. Agri-environmental assistance for crofters is now very limited. Shetland is losing the benefits gained from the former ESA scheme while the Government's Rural Development Programme is nearly impossible to access for crofters and farmers.

“The future of crofting In Shetland is not about more Government bureaucracy and red tape - yet that is what they have proposed in this Bill."