As we approach the 2026 Holyrood election, the Countryside Alliance invited parties to write an article for our website setting out their vison for rural Scotland. 

Here is the response from leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP:

How the Scottish Liberal Democrats will help Scotland’s rural communities

Scotland has so much going for it. But right now, it feels like our country simply isn’t working.

Farmers have been let down by botched schemes like the Future Farming Investment Scheme, which became a lottery for those it was supposed to help. Fishing communities have had to contend with debacles like the highly protected marine areas fiasco. And all the while, rural transport and infrastructure have suffered while red tape throttles vital agriculture and hospitality businesses.

After 19 years of SNP Government, rural Scotland deserves better. Its success is everyone’s success.

Firstly, nature recovery and food production should be seen as mutually beneficial, not as competing interests. If we want Scotland and the UK at large to achieve food security, people need to be able to afford to buy healthy food, and our producers need to be able to make a profit producing it. If we want to tackle the climate emergency with the urgency it demands, government needs to treat farmers and fishers as partners.

This is why Scottish Liberal Democrats have called for the scrapping of the family farm tax, and why our MP Alistair Carmichael has introduced the Food Supply Chain Fairness Bill, which will get fairer prices for farmers and food producers across the UK, bringing new checks and balances on the power of the big supermarkets.

We will remove logistical challenges to the movement of supplies and products. As part of our plan to get Scotland moving again, we will improve core connections, driving progress on major projects such as dualling the A9 and tunnels for Shetland. Our Ferries Bill will fix the SNP’s ferries fiasco for good, and we’ll spend £12m compensating islanders and coastal communities for the disruption that’s seen as many as eight lifeline ferries out of action at the same time.

Almost two decades of SNP centralisation has robbed local communities of the ability to shape their own future. We will roll this back and subject new policies and legislation to Rural Communities Impact Assessments to put the interests of rural and remote communities at the heart of decision-making.

For our natural environment, we will introduce a Clean Water Act to tackle the scandal of the government-owned water company dumping millions of litres of sewage into our rivers, lochs and beaches. And we will combat flytipping with fines reflective of the cost of cleanup.

We will protect Scotland’s temperate rainforest, expand our woodlands with at least 50% native species, ban the sale of invasive rhododendron species, and work with land managers to tackle damaging overgrazing by deer to enable young trees to grow and support rural employment.

And in a time of global economic and energy crisis, we will stay focused on helping farmers and rural business owners make ends meet. We will remove barriers to allow them to diversify their income with on-farm renewable energy generation to responsible agritourism, and support them to manage the impact of global instability on essential inputs like fertiliser and fuel so they can plan with confidence.

The more MSPs we have, the more we can get done. This election is your chance to elect local champions and win the change our country desperately needs.

We are on the verge of winning against the SNP in ten constituencies, but wherever you are, you can have an MSP who will get stuff done by backing the Scottish Liberal Democrats on the second peach regional ballot paper.

Rural Scotland deserves better, and with the Scottish Liberal Democrats you can vote for it.

Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP is leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.