Strings are attached when appointed a Grazings Constable by the Crofting Commission
Grazings Constables appointed by the Crofting Commission have asserted their independence from the Crofting Commission. It must be remembered though that these grazings constables have been illegally appointed, and in the full knowledge that this was the case, by the Crofting Commission. However, legal or illegal how independent were the appointments and how independent were the grazings constables?
A freedom of information disclosure has shown that they were perhaps not very independent at all. Certainly, it would appear, not in the eyes of the Chief Grazings Constable and Convener of the Crofting Commission, Colin Kennedy. He stated, prior to one of the grazings constables being appointed, in an e-mail to the Chief Executive of the Crofting Commission, Catriona Maclean:-
I have had a man on from [name of grazings in question] delighted with the moves and if the Constable has any difficulty and backs out, he will willingly take the Constable position on and pay the monies.
Thus the Crofting Commission, or at least their Convener, was intent on putting henchmen in place to do their bidding. Something, once more, that the Crofting Commission had no power in law to do.
The first post on this blog about ‘The Common Clearances‘ made reference to alleged abuse of power within the Crofting Commission. 36 blog posts on the same subject matter later and the evidence is fairly clear that there was some substance to those allegations.
Image Credit: Police Officers © Puppetville