BREAKING NEWS….
The Scottish Parliament has this evening voted to support the general principles of the Wildlife Management & Muirburn Bill and it will now pass to Stage 2.
Votes for = 82; votes against = 32, no abstentions.
The vote followed a fairly predictable debate in the Chamber this afternoon with no real surprises. I’ll come back to that tomorrow.
For now, it’s time to celebrate because the Scottish Parliament has, after many, many years of campaigning by so many people, finally voted to support, in principle, significant reform of an industry that has been out of control and unaccountable for far too long. Grouse shooting and its associated criminality and environmental destruction simply cannot survive in its current format and for that I’m bloody delighted.
Well done to everyone involved.
UPDATE 1 December 2023: Landmark vote in Scottish Parliament to bring in grouse moor licensing (here)
Raptor Persecution UK 
The percentage of the votes for also suggests that it will get through second stage. That would be a lot of minds to change.
(Or brown envelopes)🫢
It’s a step in the right direction fingers xd it does go through keep up the good work RP.
Some very personal attacks on other members and parties from some of the Tory MSPs, as well as the usual tripe about urban vs rural and lack of evidence of raptor persecution etc etc. Oliver Mundell’s ‘contribution’ was particularly obnoxious.
Ruth – you got this out very quickly. Well done. I watched it through and totally agree with Galloway Loon’s comment. One or two folks there should be ashamed of themselves. Nevertheless, it was a good session and outcome and very well chaired.
This is a massive step in the right direction, let’s just hope the money on offer does not sway the vote in a different direction.
Not suggesting for one moment that bribes are being offered, but I would not be surprised at all, especially as it seems to work in cases of wildlife crimes that actually get as far as the police, and courts, they usually just dissappear, and nothing is known about the outcome.
Take of that what you will, but for far too many years crimes have gone unpunished, and have been dismissed before they get as far as courts.
The game bird industry have had it too easy for too long, it’s time they were held accountable for their actions, without prejudice, and without interference from the rich, and connected amongst the shooting industry.
This new bill should strike fear amongst the shooting industry, and hopefully will stop all the illegal killings, this comes too late for many birds, including the most recent cases of golden Eagle, and peregrine falcons murdered, as for the daft idea of brood meddling, that was another idea from the shooting industry, giving them an excuse to kill birds of prey, discreetly, mostly because they could blame it on natural causes , because nobody was aware of the location the birds had been moved to, this in turn meant killing them would be easy to hide, understanding why this was ever allowed in the first place is pretty much impossible for anyone who cares for wildlife.
The shooting industry has a lot to answer for regarding sudden deaths in satellite tagged birds of prey, it is blatantly obvious to anyone what is happening with these tagged birds, and is absolutely not a coincidence that these disappearances happen on or near shooting estates.
I personally believe shooting birds for fun is barbaric, and is not sporting, to hit a grouse using a shotgun is like hitting a mini with a double decker bus, not difficult at all, along with the obvious damage caused ro birds of prey, the land is being decimated by the burning , the many grouse that escape, and the discarded waste from shooting, and the natural wildlife being scared off by these people beating the ground chasing birds into the air, and dogs running riot going to grab birds, that have been killed, this in turn builds a kill drive in the dogs.
Time to end all hunting, and ban anyone who is involved in killing protected species from owning, or even holding a gun, licences should be removed, and guns destroyed.
Any estate found to be responsible in killing birds of prey should loose their license to hold shoots, and again should have all guns destroyed, and licences removed permanently.
Hopefully this bill will be passed, and make a difference at last, it would be nice to be able to see these amazing birds of prey in the wild, currently they don’t live long enough to be seen, and are chased away from their natural environment by idiots with guns, and those involved in the shooting industry .
I live in hope it does get passed round 2, and is implemented immediately.
Thanks to all involved on getting the bill this far.
This is such good news and a very welcome step. The vote for was pretty convincing and, hopefully, that momentum will continue. We’ll done to Ruth and everyone involved in the campaign
Congratulations Ruth:-)
A long, l o n g, way still to go…
This is the result of the hard work of a great many people, some of whom are sadly no longer here to see it. And yes, still a long way to go but ultimately there will be a licensing scheme in some format or another, and even if it’s watered down so as not to be effective, then there’s only one place left for the Government to go. Today was the first big step towards the inevitable.
“This is the result of the hard work of a great many people, some of whom are sadly no longer here to see it.”
No doubt… but Raptor Persecution UK reaches parts other campaigners cannot reach:-)
I am incredibly grateful to Raptor Persecution UK team for the long and hard work they have put in over the years. The case against driven grouse shooting seems obvious yet it persists. Why???? The wrong people in high places over the years, surely it is time for a change and now is the time! Certainly a licensing scheme will be a great step forward. With climate change threatening us it is time to put aside selfish pastimes and all of us should be working together for a future for us and for wildlife!
Agree with many comments above – some of the MSPs speaking were a total disgrace, and very badly behaved – the Scottish Parliament has been usually much more in order than Westminster.
Having had to meet and speak to some of the RA and I committee , can assure you that there are some stars and others who are definitely ‘not on my Christmas card list’!
Some of those you saw are also involved in (at a distance), in making life hard for members of Scottish Badgers day. by day e.g. by making stupid and inaccurate comments on Facebook, and basically undermining us.
Hey ho – on to Stage 2, which I think will be very vicious
Eddie Palmer
Well said Brion James I don’t think there’s much more I can say than a step in the right direction keep up the good work RP.