As many of you know, the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs & Islands Committee is currently taking evidence from stakeholders as part of the Committee’s Stage 1 scrutiny of the Wildlife & Muirburn (Scotland) Bill.
For new blog readers, this is the Bill that has been introduced by the Scottish Government in response to the recommendations made in the 2019 Werritty Review and is designed to bring in licensing for grouse moor management and attempt to put an end to the illegal killing of birds of prey on grouse moors.
The first evidence session took place on 31st May 2023 and the Committee heard from members of the Scottish Government Bill Team, led by senior civil servant Hugh Dignon.
It was a relatively straightforward evidence session, with no big surprises and it provided a useful insight into how legislation is drafted, if that’s your thing.
Although I’ve got to say, the quality of some of the questions from some members of the Committee revealed an exasperating level of ignorance. Whether that was feigned or genuine, I’ll leave you to decide.
For example, Committee Member Jim Fairlie MSP (SNP):
“What evidence is there to justify the need for additional regulation of grouse moors? Has an on-going link been established between grouse moor management and raptor persecution?“
And from Committee Member Rachael Hamilton MSP (Scottish Conservatives):
“What evidence do you have to suggest that raptor persecution and grouse moors are connected?“
It should be noted that both MSPs are known to support the game-shooting industry. Mr Fairlie recently sponsored a Parliamentary event for the godawful Gift of Grouse campaign group (which raised eyebrows given the timing of the event coinciding with his role on the Committee supposedly independently scrutinising the grouse moor bill – see here), so he’s probably not as ignorant of the issues as his question suggests. Rachael Hamilton was recently in hot water as it was claimed she ‘failed to declare an interest in blood sports’ whilst scrutinising the recent Hunting with Dogs Bill (see here) and she’s also attended events and meetings with gamekeepers (e.g. here) so she, too, should be very well informed on the link between grouse moor management and illegal raptor persecution. Fortunately, there are others on the Committee with different views and experience.
I’ve got to hand it to Hugh Dignon, who managed to suppress any hint of incredulity, and calmly explained the extensive available evidence linking grouse moor management to illegal raptor persecution (i.e. bloody decade’s worth of the stuff!) and said he would happily provide this material to the Committee in writing.
You can watch the first evidence session on Scottish Parliament TV (archived video here, starts at 10:59:07) and you can read the transcript here (starts on page 40):
The second evidence session (in a series of four) takes place tomorrow, starting at 9am in the Fairfax Somerville Room at Holyrood. The Committee will first hear evidence from members of the Grouse Moor Management (Werritty) Review, and then take evidence from a range of stakeholders on sections 1-3 of the Bill (glue traps), sections 4-5 (wildlife traps) and section 8 (SSPCA powers).
Here are the individuals invited to give evidence at this particular session:
That should be interesting! You can watch live on Scottish Parliament TV (here) or watch the video archive shortly afterwards via the same website. The official transcript will be available several days after the meeting and I’ll post it on this blog when it comes out.
The third session, scheduled for 21st June 2023, will hear from the RSPB and the REVIVE coalition for grouse moor reform, amongst others, about grouse moor licensing and muirburn licensing.
The fourth and final session, scheduled for 28th June, will hear evidence from Mairi Gougeon, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands.
Raptor Persecution UK 
You can’t trust a politician, irrespective of the party.
Rachael Hamilton is toxic when it comes to bloodsports. Am I allowed to call her toxic? I’ll just get angry if I listen to her.
Isn’t A. Hogg the one who thinks grouse shooters should be allowed to drink on shoots and then drive around with unsecured guns in their vehicles?? I may watch that one…..
I’m not sure that he’s on record suggesting that grouse shooters should be allowed to drive around with unsecured guns in their vehicles (although if you have a link, I’d be interested) but he is on record moaning about drink driving limits:
Yes of course you are right I had conflated two things (the argument that we shouldn’t have the same drink-drive laws in rural areas because we don’t have public transport) and (the “accident waiting to happen” because we allow other people in the countryside where there may be shooters or ‘keepers with high velocity rifles). It was a bit of a rambling speech tho’ – I can see why I conflated… thks for the correction and link. And I may have seen something else about drinking on shoots (not AH) – I’ll see if I can find that …
Rachael Hamilton acting as if totally uninformed on this topic is in absolute and extreme contrast to her stellar and very astute questioning, highly praised for women in the audience , at recent committee meetings prior to the the passing of the controversial Holyrood gender bill .As a member of the Equalities and Human Rights Holyrood committee she was one of the best advocates for women there arguing , probing and asking the most well informed questions over many meetings..She was seen as the best in the room by a long way and putting the majority of the committee to shame by her obvious depth of homework, by stauntly non Tories in women’s rights groups
Its made me ask even more questions as to why it’s the Tories that are taking certain stances
Obviously Buccleuch, the Royals, have huge interests in continuing their beloved blood sports, and money talks.
Keeping the name of your business that, what could we expect?
One thing sustains me, the memory of a packed meeting of angry farmers and locals standing up and speaking out, raising the roof , against that power even in the Buccleuch Hall, in the very presence of ‘His Grace’ one wintry night as the Beast from the East began to approach
That night, even a Tory led the crowd’s fury at times
Those fighting for these barbaric practices to continue must miss out so much from the darkness they pull themselves into
Just finished watching the recording. Found it very interesting, could make a lot of comments on what I thought were positive things and some on negative things. Impressed with I sense the genuine integrity of the three Werrity people and with the SSPCA, but was disappointed by disingenuous attitude of one or two others. Interestingly, Ross Ewing said the panel will be doing a field visit to Byrecleugh. It is a large but fairly middle of the road grouse moor keepered by a well respected, amiable and gentle mannered Headkeeper for years (unless he has recently retired). Not known for being overly hard on “vermin” although if I remember right they stopped giving access to the raptor monitors a few years ago. But Byrecleugh is a minority exception and not typical. I hope the panel will visit some others – Leadhills, Raeshaw, Millden among many, and hear about their histories from both sides. Or why not – seeing as it is just next door – pay a visit to Longformacus Estate on the same day and hear about their history?