Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Land reform may be key election pitch for Liberal Democrats

Land reform may be key election pitch for Liberal Democrats

Land reform including measures to stabilise prices should be a key election pitch for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, a party conference will hear.

The call is made in a policy motion to be debated in a one-day session for Scottish party members meeting in Glasgow next month.

It suggests improved local accountability, a “fair” tax regime to end speculation and a system providing complete information about land ownership.

Scotland has the most concentrated landownership in the developed world, according to the policy paper.

“Land values across urban and rural Scotland are the subject of speculative forces that render houses, farms and forests unaffordable for too many people,” it states.

Delegates will be urged to support a Land Reform Bill which would seek to abolish Crown rights on land, handing control to local government instead.

It would extend community right-to-buy to urban land and reform the law of succession to provide children with legal rights to inherit land.

Historic “common good” land, often lost to communities in the regional government shake-up of the 1970s, should be returned at no cost.

The party will also consider calling on the UK Government to remove tax reliefs which allow land to be bought and sold “merely as a tax vehicle” with no regard for local communities.

Adopting the measures is “essential to creating a fairer Scottish society”, the policy motion suggests. The debate is part of the Scottish party conference on September 14 as part of the wider UK party conference.

Land reform expert Andy Wightman, who has written extensively on the subject, welcomed the discussion.

“I’m very encouraged by it,” he said.

“It shows that political parties are getting interested in this topic again. It’s been a long time since any political party has engaged in it.

“Looked at in the context of what else is going on in the field, it looks quite radical. In fact, it’s quite modest.”

“Attempts to tackle land speculation are particularly welcome,” he said.

“There’s a threat of a new housing bubble,” he continued. Land for housing is increasingly unaffordable. That’s one of the biggest issues. People can’t afford housing.”

Delegates at the party conference, including Holyrood’s five Lib Dem MSPs, will also be invited to debate taxpayer support for business and the removal of the centuries-old need for corroboration in Scots law.

They will hear speeches from MEP George Lyon and from UK Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs Minister Jo Swinson, the MP for East Dunbartonshire.