You were, perhaps, generously, extending the principle of charity towards the Times leader published in February, by describing it as a ‘misunderstanding’. I would say, they understood very well and saw the threat to the venal rent-seeking of their paymasters. To head this off, they began circulating the myth of ‘land grabs’ to frighten those who have been struggling with inflated house prices and mortgage payments (albeit these are at ridiculously low interest rates).

The current land regulations were written on behalf of the wealthy landowning class (i.e. those who own vast chunks of Westminster, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Yorkshire, Merseyside, Antrim, etc.) and were designed to facilitate the transfer of public money to the private sector and to create a rigged market.

The attempt to bankrupt Mr Andy Wightman MSP is an example of the nastiness to which they will resort.

At present, in Scotland, at Holyrood, with the SNP, Greens, and to various extents, Labour and Lib Dems there is a significant Parliamentary majority in favour of some kind of land reform. I think that the Parliamentarians are still rather ‘tim’rous beasties’ in their approach. Part of the problem is the lack of an up-to-date land register which would enable public authorities to identify who owners are. Not only is the register incomplete, it is also difficult to follow the dense web of ownership links which are designed specifically to obfuscate.

However, as you indicate, with your generous praise of the Times for seemingly changing its stance with regard to land reform, even many within the Conservatives are realising that the current system of land ownership is creating serious problems which impinges not just on the ‘lumpen proletariat’ but also on the so called ‘aspiring middle classes’ and on the fairly well-heeled middle classes who, by comparison to the super-rich, are simply larger specks of grit on the floor of the living rooms in which these modern Bourbons now live.

While it is welcome that they have ‘seen the light’, I think we should also ‘sup with a long spoon’ in our dealings with them.

The Times and other of the ‘papers of record’ are pretty poor shadows of what they once were, but compared to the shoddy lie sheets that The Herald and Scotsman have become, there are still a few sparks of independent thought. However, a few of these (often former student “revolutionaries”) journalists are still keen to sustain the comfortable niches which they have created for themselves.