…the blog and website of Andy Wightman
Following the publication of our report A Land Value Tax for Northern Ireland (1), Dr Ronan Lyons, myself and the Chief Executive of NICVA, Seamus McAlaevey were delighted to have been asked to give evidence to the Finance and Personnel Committee
Continue readingDavid Lloyd George and Winston Churchill. A Land Value Tax for England. Fair, Efficient, Sustainable (4.1Mb pdf) Over the past few months I have been undertaking research for Caroline Lucas MP into how a system of site value rating or land
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Today, the STUC has published an open letter to Scotland’s political parties urging them to revalue Scotland’s domestic property in order to provide an accurate tax base for the Council Tax which is still based on property valuations from 1991.
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Introduction This blog introduces my proposals for a comprehensive Land Reform Bill – one that goes far further than existing proposals in reforming Scotland’s land governance. I plan to publish further blogs outlining in more detail the background rationale and
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In this blog I hope to crystallise my thoughts on some of the reasons why current Scottish Government policy on carbon markets is flawed and undermines efforts to tackle climate change. This is a very brief overview and assumes some
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This blog post is a response to the Scottish Government’s current consultation on a future land reform bill. Detaisl can be found here. The consultation closes on Sunday 30 October 2022. The text below is not part of my consultation
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Introduction On Monday 4 July, the Scottish Government published its consultation paper “Land Reform in a Net Zero Nation” (1). The consultation is designed to inform the introduction of a Land Reform Bill by the end of 2023. I spent
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Lorne Street tenants protesting at City Chambers, Edinburgh November 2015 The American land and tax reformer, Henry George, observed in his book, Progress and Poverty, that “thirty thousand people have legal power to expel the whole population from five-sixths of
Continue readingThe Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee (RACCE) of the Scottish Parliament published its Stage One Report on the general principles of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill on 4th December. The plenary Stage One debate will take place in the
Continue readingScottish Land and Estates, the organisation that represents some landowners in Scotland, attracted a fair bit of press coverage last month for their claim that potential reforms to Scotland’s agricultural tenancy laws could leave the Scottish Government open to compensation
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