Latest news with #MichaelRussell
The National
19-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Our land should serve as a shared inheritance, fostering opportunity
For too long, Scotland's land has been concentrated in the hands of a few, a legacy of feudal structures that have denied communities their rightful stake in the resources that sustain them. The bill's aim to diversify ownership and empower local people is a step toward justice, but it must go further to dismantle the entrenched inequalities that persist. READ MORE: Call for public input on Scotland's land reform launches Land is not merely a commodity; it is the foundation of our collective existence, entrusted to us to steward for the benefit of all, not to be hoarded for private gain. I advocate for measures that prioritise community-led ownership models, ensuring that the fruits of the land – whether agricultural, environmental, or cultural – are shared equitably among those who live and work upon it. The bill must also strengthen accountability. Large estates, often held by absentee landlords, have too often neglected the needs of local people, prioritising profit over prosperity. Robust mechanisms are needed to ensure landowners act as responsible custodians, investing in the social and ecological health of their communities. This includes supporting sustainable practices that preserve the land for future generations, reflecting a moral duty to care for what we have been given. READ MORE: Michael Russell: What should Scotland's land reform actually deliver? In the Outer Hebrides, we see the transformative potential of community ownership, where land is managed collectively to support housing, enterprise, and cultural heritage. The bill should expand such models nationwide, empowering communities to shape their own futures. This requires not only legislative support but also adequate funding and resources to level the playing field, particularly for rural and island communities facing unique challenges. I urge the parliament to view this bill as a chance to build a Scotland where land serves as a shared inheritance, fostering unity and opportunity for all its people. Let us commit to a vision where every community has a voice in the land that defines it, and where the wealth of our natural heritage is harnessed for the collective good. Councillor Gordon Murray Comhairle nan Eilean Siar I WELCOME The National's coverage of the international research team's peer-reviewed critique of the Cass Review, recently published in BMC Medical Research Methodology (International study tears into Cass Review on trans healthcare in UK, May 14). This critique is far more than a difference of opinion, it is a meticulous dissection of the Cass Review's methodological flaws, with serious implications for healthcare policy across the UK. A standout strength of the critique lies in its discussion of the Cass Review's call for randomised controlled trials on puberty blockers. The authors explain, with clarity and rigour, why such trials are not just ethically fraught but likely to be confounded by unmanageable variables. The kind of young person able or willing to remain in a control group without access to treatment may differ significantly from one who would seek care through other routes. The result is a study that measures not the safety or effectiveness of the treatment, but the effects of poor access and frustrated need. That is not good science, it's bad ethics – and worse policy. READ MORE: Trans women protest topless outside Scottish Parliament The wider methodological flaws identified in the critique, from misuse of appraisal tools to the unexplained exclusion of relevant studies, further undermine the authority with which the Cass Review has been used to justify sweeping policy decisions, including the withdrawal of puberty blockers from NHS care. The UK and devolved governments now face a clear choice: double down on a politically expedient report riddled with scientific inconsistencies, or recommit to evidence-based policy grounded in methodological integrity and ethical responsibility. Scotland, in particular, has the opportunity to lead by example, rejecting the instrumentalisation of flawed reviews in favour of care informed by robust, inclusive research. The time for scrutiny is now. This peer-reviewed critique demands it. Ron Lumiere via email A DISTURBINGLY interesting few days. Donald Trump gets a 'gift' of a $400 million jet from an oil-rich country. Also at this time, oil-rich country Scotland has its last oil refinery shut down and is informed that the number of its homeless people is increasing. Meanwhile, although there is no Russian participation in the Eurovision Song Contest due to its invasion of Ukraine, Israel is allowed to take part while it is destroying Gaza. So, so sad a world to live in. Douglas Stanley Ayr
The National
14-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Call for public input on Scotland's land reform launches
Led by the Scottish Land Commission, ScotLand Futures has invited individuals, community groups, land managers, businesses and organisations to give feedback to shape "a shared vision for how Scotland's land is owned, used and managed in the years ahead". Key issues of housing, nature, jobs, and local communities are in focus while the Scottish Parliament is currently considering a new Land Reform Bill that will improve how large-scale landholdings are managed and transferred. READ MORE: NC500 named least electric vehicle-friendly road trip in UK-wide study The initiative is asking Scots: What would it look like to complete Scotland's current land reform journey? Speaking at the launch, Michael Russell, chair of the Scottish Land Commission, said: 'Land reform is not just for land reformers. Too often the conversation can feel remote – discussed in policy circles or historic terms. Land affects all of us, every day, from the homes we live in, to the green spaces we enjoy, and the kind of communities we want to build. "Scotland has made real progress in land reform, but the journey is not complete yet. We're inviting people to look ahead and envision the next big steps for land reform. We hope to build consensus on a fairer land system. Even where there is not full agreement, there is real value in developing shared clarity about the intended endpoint.' ScotLand Futures is open to everyone, and the commission is encouraging individuals, community groups, businesses and organisations to get involved. The organisation has stressed individual "don't need to be an expert" to submit feedback. People can take part by: Completing a short online form to share their views on land reform Attending online or in-person events Engaging with the campaign on social media using #ScotLandFutures Insights gathered through the initiative will be used to inform the public debate and support policy development and a summary of contributions will be published by the Commission later this year. Visit here to find out more and share your views.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nationwide call for public input on Scotland's land reform launches
A NATIONAL initiative is inviting people across Scotland to share their views on how land can better support the things that matter most. Led by the Scottish Land Commission, ScotLand Futures has invited individuals, community groups, land managers, businesses and organisations to give feedback to shape "a shared vision for how Scotland's land is owned, used and managed in the years ahead". Key issues of housing, nature, jobs, and local communities are in focus while the Scottish Parliament is currently considering a new Land Reform Bill that will improve how large-scale landholdings are managed and transferred. READ MORE: NC500 named least electric vehicle-friendly road trip in UK-wide study The initiative is asking Scots: what would it look like to complete Scotland's current land reform journey? Speaking at the launch, Michael Russell, chair of the Scottish Land Commission, said: 'Land reform is not just for land reformers. Too often the conversation can feel remote - discussed in policy circles or historic terms. Land affects all of us, every day, from the homes we live in, to the green spaces we enjoy, and the kind of communities we want to build. "Scotland has made real progress in land reform, but the journey is not complete yet. We're inviting people to look ahead and envision the next big steps for land reform. We hope to build consensus on a fairer land system. Even where there is not full agreement, there is real value in developing shared clarity about the intended endpoint.' ScotLand Futures is open to everyone, and the commission is encouraging individuals, community groups, businesses and organisations to get involved. The organisation has stressed individual "don't need to be an expert" to submit feedback. People can take part by: Completing a short online form to share their views on land reform Attending online or in-person events Engaging with the campaign on social media using #ScotLandFutures Insights gathered through the initiative will be used to inform the public debate and support policy development and a summary of contributions will be published by the Commission later this year. Visit here to find out more and share your views.
BBC News
25-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Western Isles life in the 1970s brought back on screen
It was an attempt to use cutting-edge video technology to chronicle the daily lives of people in the Western Isles. Cinema Sgire ran from 1977 to 1981 and involved training local people to use some of the first commercially available portable video cameras to tell their own stories in their own the end of the project, more than 100 tapes were packed away for 15 years before being have now been digitised and made available online and are being shown in Glasgow on Wednesday as part of Scotland's World Gaelic Week. Over the course of four years, the project covered village hall openings, royal visits, concerns about ferry services and the daily stories about communities, businesses and family gatherings which would otherwise have never been captured on person who ran the scheme was Michael Russell, who would go on to become chief executive of the SNP and then an MSP and cabinet in 1977, he was in his mid-20s and working to combine his love of Gaelic language and culture with an ambition to work in was a challenging role for the budding producer-director."It was very much a child of its time, devised by the old Scottish Film Council to do two things. We had a cinema circuit, we showed 'blockbusters' so to speak, round the islands," he says."But we also had a video unit and that was very, very 1970s, where the idea was that people would make their own television. "If only we had smart phones and iPads and Tik-Tok we would have done the things we really wanted to do. We were working with open reel, half-inch black and white video tape and in the first year no editing facility at all."What we were trying to do was to say to communities 'go tell your own story' and some of it was really ground-breaking." Kay Foubister is acquisitions curator of the moving image collection at the National Library of Scotland (NLS). They have taken over the Cinema Sgire archive and put it online."It was Michael's project. He took the new technology to the area and asked the community to film themselves," she says."It was not an external party filming these. The community themselves decided what they would do and how they would film it."The tapes show both the advantages and shortcomings of the emerging video technology."It's early video, brand new technology. For the first time they didn't have to send the film away, you could see what had been filmed straight away," Kay says."But they also had to get people used to using heavy equipment. For the first year there was no editing equipment."Michael Russell believes the basic nature of the technology and scheme contributed to its success. "We were the only people working in video in Gaelic for about a year-and-a-half. We were getting communities to prioritise what was important to them," he says. "Because of the technological limitations it didn't produce the wonderful finished products that people were used to seeing. But we were also working in communities where television was still available in black and white 405 line when I first went to Uist in 1977. "So with those limitations, people got quite a lot out of it, found a way of expressing themselves, recorded what was important to them." Cinema Sgire wrapped up in 1981, and Michael believes they failed to plan for what happened next with the archive which had been built up."I don't think any of us expected that these tapes would still be around and they were indeed lost for quite a period of time."They were left in our studio when the project came to an end and, miraculously, somebody took them, kept them, and they emerged about 15 years later," he says. The 100-plus tapes were digitised by the NLS in have since been fully catalogued thanks to local company UistFilm, which has also taken the archive to communities across the Western Isles."We really had no idea of the quality of the archive after nearly 50 years," Kay says."Some of the tapes have video signal loss but the footage that has been kept shows the natural way the people are speaking to camera and is really quite unique.""Not much could be done with a lot of the footage. They did a lot to enhance and level out some of the sound."Where there was more than one copy of the same tape, they were able to edit them together to get the best version available, cutting out some of the more technically-degraded footage."Really restoring the footage would need more money to get technicians working on it," Kay says. The archive may not be in pristine condition but the powerful stories it tells seems to be connecting with says: "Everyone reacts in a different way. It depends on what they are interested in. One man said he felt he had met the person who had lived on his croft before him. It gave him the chance to hear him speak."People commented on the quality of the Gaelic spoken, which has changed. Some of the words used are not so common now."One woman said she had to look up words that were being spoken because she had forgotten what they meant".For Michael, seeing the tapes again is a chance to re-connect with an important period in his life."I lived in Uist from 1977 to 1982 and of course out of the project came not only the Cinema Sgire tapes but the Celtic Media Festival which I founded in 1980," he project's other legacy is its continuing relevance. In Gaelic and English, the people captured on tape almost 50 years ago talk about education, employment, ferry services. The very things people in the isles talk about Kay, that is an important lesson the archive tell us."It shows that while some things change, some things don't," she adds.
