Landlords could be banned from increasing rent in Scotland for up to five years under SNP plans
ALAMY
The Scottish government does not have a strong record when it comes to effective legislation — laws that actually work rather than simply being well-intentioned. Some, like bills on the rights of the child, gender recognition or an independence referendum, have run into opposition in the courts, where they have failed the test of competence.
Others, like the hate crime or land reform proposals, raise more problems than they solve because the areas they deal with are not only contentious, but involve basic rights — freedom of speech, rights to property — which are so deeply entrenched that it takes great legal skill to negotiate a way through them. Those skills have not always been clearly on display in Scotland.
The latest to sail into
