Tag Archives: Crabbit Crofter

Twitter Hashtags poke fun at Crofting Convener

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Twitter Hashtag pokes fun at Crofting ConvenerFollowing revelations this morning that the Convener of the Crofting Commission, Colin Kennedy, requires a comfortable chair at meetings to aid his “posture, conduct and demeanour” followers of @CroftingLaw on Twitter started to have some fun.

In keeping with the headline of the original blog post we got the hashtag #achairfitforaconvener from @Janiceeem56:-

With the accompanying image:-

#achairfitforaconvener

@CrabbitCrofter started the hashtag #convenersthrone:-

With the accompanying image:-

The Crofting Convener's Portable Throne

The Crabbit Crofter clearly thought that a portable chair would save the Crofting Commission some money:-

Meanwhile @_JamieMcIntyre thought we needed to get #faultyfurniture trending:-

This would jokingly reference excuses for things that happened being down to faulty furniture e.g.:-

But there is, of course, a serious side to all of this as highlighted by @AlisonMacleod3:-

But the answer to that has not, so far, changed:-

Brian Inkster

Statement by Crofting Commission gets no better in Gaelic

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Crofting Commission Statement no better in GaelicIt was previously raised on this blog that the statement made by Crofting Commissioner Murdo Maclennan after the board meeting on 17 August was fairly unintelligible.

This was a statement made by him, on behalf of the Crofting Commission, following discussion by them of the letter from Fergus Ewing MSP, the Cabinet Secretary with responsibility for crofting, on the Commission’s handling of the common grazings debacle.

That statement was made by Murdo Maclennan in English. He made another statement on the same day to the media in Gaelic. That Gaelic statement was broadcast on BBC Radio nan Gaidheal’s Aithris an Fheasgair on 17 August 2016.

The Crabbit Crofter has made as accurate a transcription and translation into English from Gaelic as he could of this statement, and that as follows:-

…that was in the letter and…um…and…eh…the Convener made…eh…he brought the letter to the board…about it…as I said…as…as…every public board is anyway…there will be different opinions…and we came…we talked about it and we came to the conclusion…everyone in the…everyone in the Commission was behind…as I’m saying…and accepted it.

Unfortunately in these two villages that…they didn’t come to an agreement…there wasn’t an agreement…between the people who raised the topic and…and…eh…the township committees themselves but…but that’s past now…and…and we are working eh with…as in Upper Coll…we have got a Constable who is working with crofters in the village…and…and…I am finding out he is working well with them…eh… unfortunately …I said that it was…it came to this…but we think we did the right things for the township.

Well, no better or any more understandable than the statement made in English!

Interesting that in this statement Murdo Maclennan speaks specifically about an apparent lack of agreement in two villages (there were actually three involved: two on the Isle of Lewis and one on the Scottish mainland) but “that’s past now”.

It may be in the past in the Commission’s eyes but it is what Fergus Ewing’s letter was all about and crofters still want answers as to why the Commission took the action that they did and assurances that they will never do so, in such circumstances, again.

The Commission’s current policy on this matter, in light of the letter from Fergus Ewing MSP, must be made clear and this statement goes nowhere near doing so.

Murdo Maclennan says “we have got a Constable”. Is this, yet again, the Commission thinking the constable is their man on the ground rather than an independent party distinct from the Commission who simply takes the role of clerk/committee?

In any event the grazings constable in question is illegal! If the Crofting Commission are now accepting that they got it wrong, in light of Fergus Ewing’s letter, does it not follow that they are accepting that they got it wrong in relation to the appointment of constables?

The Crofting Commission, via Murdo Maclennan seems to think that the illegally appointed constable in Upper Coll is “working well” with the crofters in the village. Certainly not the message being given out loud and clear by many of  the crofters in the village who have stated that to date they have “only been co-operating with the constable under duress”.

Also Murdo Maclennan said, on behalf of the Crofting Commission, that they think they “did the right things for the township”. That is not what the majority of crofters or the Scottish Government seem to think. Also is that statement actually reflected in the massive U-turn the Commission took over Mangersta?

All and all it still seems to be a shambles. The Crofting Commission appear to say, perhaps reluctantly, on one hand that they agree that they got it wrong (i.e. in support of the Scottish Government position) but on the other hand they still think that they did the right thing. Those two viewpoints cannot sit easily side by side.

However, the statements made on behalf of the Crofting Commission by Murdo Maclennan, both in English and in Gaelic, are far from clear in any event and are open to misinterpretation.

The Crofting Commission must, in all the circumstances, publish a written statement in clear English and Gaelic (each one being a direct translation of the other) that sets out their actual position on the matter. This should, in any event, have been done as a matter of course immediately following their board meeting last Wednesday.

Brian Inkster

Update: 3 September 2016

In the West Highland Free Press yesterday a letter was published from Murdo Maclennan under the heading “Partick twang” to blame. It reads:-

I refer to the comments of Ms Mandeville of the SCF as reported on the WHFP website on 19th August and her reference to my “apparent assertion after a recent board meeting”.

As she does not disclose her source of information I assume that she is referring to my post-board interview with BBC Alba. My Gaelic is nuanced through a Partick twang and she has clearly misinterpreted my public statement. I did state during the interview that the Commission conducted a debate followed by a motion, which I moved, being carried unanimously and without dissent. In any public body vigorous debate is surely to be encouraged and not disparaged.

Sorry, Mr Maclennan but that goes nowhere near resolving the confusion you have already created – It may in fact have caused more!

Do the Commission take the view that they have done nothing wrong despite the letter from Fergus Ewing? A simple “Yes” or “No” in English, Gaelic or Partick twang will suffice.

How much are Grazings Constables paid?

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How much are Grazings Constables paid

Hey… why are you getting £30 per hour and I’m not?!

In my last blog post I looked at who pays the Grazings Constables. This post will disclose how much they get paid.

In comments on the Island News & Advertiser when they published a letter from Colin Souter, the grazing constable for Upper Coll (illegally appointed in my opinion and the opinion of others, including the Crofting Commission itself) it was suggested that the going rate was £30 per hour.

Colin Souter disputed this figure. As that was, apparently, the figure obtained via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request in connection with the remuneration of the Mangersta Grazings Constable then perhaps different grazings constables have been paid different rates. If so then this would reveal yet more inconsistencies on the part of the Crofting Commission!

Another FOI request has disclosed that as at 1 July 2016 Donald Harrison (Mangersta Grazings Constable) had been paid or was due to be paid £4,659 and Colin Souter (Upper Coll Grazing Constable) had been paid or was due to be paid £1,227.85.

The Mangersta Grazings Constable had been carrying out activities (albeit illegally) much longer than the Upper Coll one at that point. Today the Mangersta Grazings Constable is no longer in ‘office’ but the Upper Coll one still purports to be and is no doubt still accepting payment for his activities despite the risks of so doing outlined by Donald Rennie.

Brian Inkster

The Emperor’s New Clothes

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The Emperor's new clothesFollowing my last blog post I exchanged a tweet with the Crabbit Crofter. This unfortunately sums up the Crofting Commission and ‘The Common Clearances‘ quite neatly:-

Credit: Illustration by Vilhelm Pedersen, Hans Christian Andersen’s first illustrator

Crofting Commission deletes its history

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Crofting Commission deletes its history

No… the Crofting Commission never said that!

The ‘Crabbit Crofter‘ brought to our attention today the fact that the Crofting Commission have been deleting/changing their website in so far as guidelines concerning ‘common grazings the rights of crofters and the duties of grazings committees and their grazings clerks’ are concerned.

In April 2016 the Crofting Commission published guidelines on this topic by their Convener, Colin Kennedy, who stated:-

It seems to me like a very good time to remind shareholders in Common Grazings what their rights are and what the duties of the Grazings committee and their Grazings clerk are.

This came almost immediately on the back of us publishing a post on this blog concerning alleged abuse of power within the Crofting Commission linked to what has become known as ‘The Common Clearances‘.

The Crabbit Crofter reveals that those guidelines have now been deleted from the Crofting Commission’s website:-

Crabbit Crofter - Crofting Commission Deletes its History

Crabbit Crofter - Crofting Commission Deletes its History

It is extraordinary that a public body in Scotland in this day and age is resorting to historical revisionism and we shall return in a subsequent post to the significance of this in light of what the Crofting Commission is now claiming their current and past position on ‘The Common Clearances‘ to be.

Brian Inkster

Update – Read what the Crofting Commission tried to hide: The deleted Crofting Commission post and why: Oh yes you did!

Vote of no confidence in Crofting Commission and calls for their Convener to stand aside pending the outcome of a full external enquiry

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Vote of no confidence in Crofting Commissio at Crofting Federation meeting

All hands went up in Ullapool with a vote of no confidence in the Crofting Commission

The Scottish Crofting Federation have highlighted that the outrage of crofters at the treatment grazings committees are receiving from the Crofting Commission is escalating as another constable is appointed and shareholders are summoned to a Commission meeting.

Chair of the Scottish Crofting Federation, Fiona Mandeville, said:-

The behaviour of the Crofting Commission is causing widespread resentment and bewilderment in the crofting communities. We are all completely dismayed that the body that is supposed to be promoting the interests of crofting is instead behaving so negatively and harmfully. It seems to have lost all sense of reason.

Following summary dismissals of grazings committees by the Crofting Commission, and accusations of the Commission’s inconsistent and oppressive behaviour, the Scottish Crofting Federation held a meeting in Ullapool last Friday. Fifteen people attended, including deposed grazings officials, crofters and others. A vote of no confidence in the Commission was passed unanimously.

Ms Mandeville went on to say:-

The meeting was unequivocal in its opinion of the Crofting Commission’s conduct. As well as a vote of no confidence in the Commission, the meeting thought that it would be appropriate for the convener of the Commission to stand aside whilst an investigation is carried out into the summary dismissals of grazings committees and the internal procedures of the Commission that has led to this debacle. The Scottish Crofting Federation fully supports this.

How does the Crofting Commission intend to manage the day to day running of the grazings that they have left with no committee? Claims for CAP support are due imminently, both by committees on behalf of grazings and by individuals who need agreement of their grazings committee to use extra soumings. Large amounts of money, and we are talking thousands of pounds, will be lost. Will the Crofting Commission be ready to compensate for losses? Or do they expect the constables they are imposing on the grazings to do this? Whilst being questionable in legality, imposing constables is belligerent, particularly as shareholders are expected to pay them.

The issue seems to be around how committees manage their operational reserves. The Crofting Act is open to interpretation on exactly how this is supposed to be done but grazings committees have always taken a pragmatic approach. The Commission have apparently recently taken an interpretation that is simply unworkable. We are hearing from many committees that if they are forced to pay out all their operational reserves they will simply have to wind up management of the grazings. That will be the end of this unique system, which we hope is not the intention. The Commission is being utterly irresponsible.

Prior to summary dismissal, grazings committee members were called by the Commission to meetings with no warning of what the meeting was to be about. The commission are carrying on in the same authoritarian vein with another summons to their meetings again, with no consultation as to suitability of date, time or venue.

We understand that there may be other sacked grazings committees. The Commission has to be reined in and held to account. We understand that there may be other sacked grazings committees. The Commission has to be reined in and held to account. We will be seeking an urgent meeting with the new Minister for crofting as soon as she or he is in place and will call for a full external inquiry.

It was reported in The Scotsman that a spokeswoman for the Crofting Commission said:-

The actions of the Scottish Crofting Federation are not a matter for the commission.

An extraordinary statement for the regulator of crofting in Scotland to say about the organisation that represents the interests of crofters. The regulator should be taking heed of what they say. Instead they appear to simply be closing the door on them. A door that the Scottish Government must break down with a view to sorting this sorry mess out once and for all.

Crabbit Crofter on Twitter summed the current situation up with this image:-

The end of crofting - the common clearances

Brian Inkster