BREAKING NEWS…
In the last few minutes, the Scottish Parliament (with the exception of the Scottish Tories & Fergus Ewing of the SNP) has voted overwhelmingly in support of the Wildlife Management & Muirburn Bill!
Votes for = 85
Votes against = 30
No abstentions.
This new legislation will bring in a licensing scheme for grouse shooting, a licensing scheme for muirburn, a licensing scheme for wildlife traps, a ban on all snares and increased investigatory powers for the Scottish SPCA.
More soon…
BLOODY WELL DONE, EVERYONE!
UPDATE: Here is the official report of what was said in Parliament today and who voted for/against the Bill:
You can watch the archived proceedings on Scottish Parliament TV here and the announcement that the Bill has passed here.
UPDATE 22 March 2024: Scottish grouse Bill – reactions and latest news (here)
UPDATE 26 March 2024: More reactions to grouse moor licensing in Scotland (here)
Raptor Persecution UK 
hoorah!..a long long slog..well done..now to get it enforced..glad to see my dead eagle pic still being useful..
yes bloody well done all , thank you all so much our wildlife is to be loved not slaughtered
Great day Sgt Dick
Now we need to extend it to England and Wales
Wales has made a start…
https://www.gov.wales/historic-total-ban-snares-and-glue-traps-use-comes-force
and hints at further action…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-65091100
but reverts to the GWCT guidelines outside of SSSI and other protected sites…
https://ymgynghori.cyfoethnaturiol.cymru/evidence-policy-and-permitting-tystiolaeth-polisi-a-thrwyddedu/nrw-s-proposed-approach-to-regulating-the-release/
Brilliant news! England next.
Good, let’s hope they back it up with some proper enforcement and prosecutions for those that break the law!
Yes. The Scottish Government are good at making announcements and setting targets, but don’t always put quite so much effort into the follow through, so I’ll watch with interest.
Bit curmudgeonly there Fiona. It won’t be the Scottish Government putting effort into regulation and enforcement – that would be SNH and Police Scotland respectively.
Both very much dependant on Scottish Government funding.
Which is entirely dependent on British Government funding and their retention of over 50% of our revenues.
Well done Ruth and all of those who went before in getting this done.
Brilliant news! Thanks to those involved from all of us – and our wildlife.
Great news. Well done everyone
Hurray! Please can we have the same thing here in North Yorkshire?
Well said Phil, but let’s hope it gets extended to all of Britain! I sincerely hope that the Tories pay a heavy price at the next general election, in Scotland and the rest of Britain.
Agree 100%,Tories don’t care about wildlife, only money
“Tories don’t care about wildlife”
Some do.
Hats off.
Excellent news. Fingers crossed it has the desired effect and results in some tough action if/when the law gets broken. England next, unless this is the kick up the arse they need to get their house in order.
Well done Ruth….you know you played your part!
And bloody well done to you too Ruth. Cracking work.
absolutely bloody brilliant – well done everyone involved.
Great stuff. Well done to everyone involved in any way.
This is excellent news and a long time coming. Well done Ruth and everyone working towards this end! Now for the enforcement.
Ruth: as far as I am concerned you have been a major force in bringing this about.
I Haven’t felt this level of sheer joy for years.
Thank you
Well done Ruth . You were at the forefront of this momentous occasion and deserve all the plaudits coming your way . I am toasting this achievement with a very large whisky . Cheers !
Will that be a G____e, sir ?
Congratulations! Well done, and thanks, to everyone who has contributed in whatever way to getting this positive result. Thank you Ruth for your tireless efforts!
Hip Hip Hooray. Excellent work Ruth and all those who fought long and hard to get this better enforcement laws and power in Scotland 🏴 So bring it on sooner rather than later.
That is great news and well done to all concerned for getting it done.
fantastic news. Credit to you too Ruth. Now other home countries need to follow suit!
Well done Ruth and the team who worked so hard to make this happen. True dedication and perseverance. It’s a good day for Scottish birds of prey.
Congratulations to all concerned a big day let’s hope they follow it through and don’t bugger about . Keep up the good work Ruth .
Fantastic!! Now the rest of the country. This sets a precedent. Just wait until the election! Yippee!!
Fandabidozi yippee and any other exclamation for great. Massive pat on the backs of those who have persevered and finally got a fantastic result !!!!
There was a good gathering of The Bill supporters in the gallery including several who have made significant contributions during the long journey to this point. The atmosphere at the conclusion was euphoric!
Well done Ruth and others involved in this historic decision.
At last some news to lift the spirits! Brilliant! Well done to everyone, especially Ruth and many others leading the fight. Great news for the SSPCA. Wish I could move to Scotland!
Excellent news and the Tories out on a limb trying to defend the indefensible!
The involvement of the Scottish SPCA should be a mojor step towards reducing raptor persecution!
I’ll have a large one to that. Well done and a big thank you to all facilitated this
close down shooting estates who breed and charge a fortune to shoot these tame birds.
charge the estates 200% VAT and bring tears to their eyes.
I’ll be wandering the surrounding moor tomorrow, and will be wary of being washed away by the salty tears of the bloodthirsty bunch.
This has made my day Ruth, huge thank you to yourself and everyone involved, this is such great news!
Fly high Shalimar.May you be the last to be killed.RIP.
Good to see Emma Harper specifically mention Shalimar in her contribution to the debate – just after one of the Conservative contributors had claimed that raptor deaths were few and far between.
Great news, thank you to all those involved. Be great to see this in England now too.
Well Ruth, all of you who have worked so tirelessy and effectively to achieve this result will be ecstatic and we followers of RP/UK can totally understand that. The whisky will be flowing tonight I guess. What a brilliant sea-change piece of legislation. Not so much a foot in the door as jamming it half open. Keep the pressure on – the ball is well and truly rolling. Right now, just wish North Yorkshire was Scottish! Congrats to you one and all.
A massive well done to all who fought the long and painful campaign for this – Thank you! A thought for anyone who opposed it who is now looking for someone to blame, please remember whose fault this is – the Owners and the Land Agents/ Sporting Agents who would not follow the law, the keepers who were happy to oblige, and perhaps yourself for turning a blind eye
There’ll be some nissed-off landowners and moorland managers this week. They only have themselves to blame!
Great news – well done all.
A great day. Thanks to all involved, especially Ruth. Even more hard work to come though – enforcement is the next step. Still, it has given me hope. Well done.
England next.
Brilliant result. Thank you to all those people who have been involved over the many years.
Excellent news. Well done to everyone involved. It will be interesting to see the detail – to be effective, the licensing system must be independent of the shooting industry, appropriately funded, fair and transparent. There will be those, of course, who will seek to undermine it from day one but they must not be allowed to drag the country back into the Dark Ages.
This is a H U G E L Y important milestone, and sets a standard (by Scotland!) for the rest of the UK.
It is both better than I expected (civil standard of proof, for example) but not as good as it could have been (dangerous, lead contaminated game meat entering the human food chain remains unregulated by Food Standards Scotland, for example)
We await the Bill’s implementation and its outcomes, of course: we hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
Many congratulations, Ruth!
Brilliant ________________________________
Wonderful, wonderful news!
Huge congratulations must go to Ruth, Wild Justice, Raptor Study Groups, RSPB and SSPCA Investigating Officers (past and present), and many, many others who have been fighting for decades to see this come into force. Sadly, some never lived to see the day.
Well done to you all!
The BBC’s ‘take’ on this momentous occassion:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-68619141
The official report of proceedings has now been added to the blog.
Were the opponents able to make any changes to the bill during the proceedings?
Thanks
Nothing of significance that would affect the main principles of the new legislation.
Great news, but like some have said talks cheap let’s watch this space for the follow through!! 🙏🤷♂️
interesting to read the Countryside Alliance’s take on the new bill. How much of what they claim is accurate? They are usually quite well advised. Example: licences will not be revoked just because an enquiry into wrong-doing has been instigated, only following proof positive and then only if proven to have been actioned by the estate or employees. Guess it will all become clear once tested in fact.
I’d say the Countryside Alliance is trying to make the best of a bad job (from its perspective). The argument about the circumstances under which licences can be revoked was unnecessary in my opinion – if you look at how NatureScot imposes General Licence restrictions and the lengths NS goes to to ensure the evidence is robust and not simply the start of ‘an investigation’, it was always clear that a similar approach would be taken with grouse moor licences. Indeed, NS staff who appeared before the evidence committees said as much. Their decisions have to be robust or they’d face legal challenges. The key thing here, and to which the grouse shooting industry has reacted strongly against, it that the evidential decision by NS will be based on the balance of probability [that the incident/crime is linked to the management of the estate on which it occurred], not on the criminal burden of proof [beyond reasonable doubt].
Many thanks and congratulations to Ruth and everyone else involved – makes me even more proud to be a Scot.
Given the number of politicians who seem to think Scotland starts at Hadrian’s Wall, I look forward to the impact on local shooting estates here in Northumberland!
Take that, Henry Percy!
“Rachael Hamilton, an MSP with the Scottish Conservatives – the only party to vote against the bill – said the extent to which ministers had “ignored evidence and sidelined science has been frankly astonishing”. Only four incidents were recorded last year, the lowest on recent record. Ministers had shown “disdain for evidence-based policymaking”, she said.”
Stupidity and xxxxx from Hamilton. Utterly predictable.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/21/scottish-grouse-moors-licensed-msps-vote