AN investigation has revealed that the family of the former Conservative Scottish secretary Alister Jack is linked to a campaign to block plans for a new national park in the south of Scotland.
The investigation by The Ferret shows that private landowners including Jack's brother, James, have been accused of leading a campaign to block the creation of a new national park in Galloway.
In July 2024, the Scottish Government initiated a public consultation on the potential creation of a third national park, which will run until February 14, 2025.
In August 2024, the No Galloway National Park campaign was launched.
The Ferret uncovered that the No Galloway National Park website directed any queries to the email address of Jack’s brother, who owns seven estates. This email was provided for inquiries about the privacy policy.
The Ferret reported that the email address was "altered" after their investigation began. They also found that the campaign's website was created by Jack's family members, specifically his brother's daughter, who runs an IT company.
Pro-national park campaigners told The Ferret that the Jack’s family support had been “concealed” and demanded to know who is funding the No Galloway National Park campaign.
Kat Jones, the group’s director from Action to Protect Rural Scotland said to The Ferret that “this support appears to be concealed, and not made clear on the website or by the no campaign”.
“To find that this campaign, which bills itself as grassroots, is being backed by major landowning interests puts the whole campaign in a new context and begs the question of where it is finding the money to employ a major PR company who are evidently doing a huge amount of work on their behalf.”
According to Who Owns Scotland, Jack’s brother James owns three estates in Dumfries and Galloway with a total of 1923 hectares, with commercial forestry and farming estates in Ayrshire, Kintyre, and Skye.
“The public deserve that this is done in a transparent way, and, where messaging and campaigning is funded by major landowning interests, this should be made clear,” said Jones.
When contacting Media House International, the PR agency for the No campaign, a spokesperson told The Ferret that “the No Galloway National Park campaign … is funded by private donations and has attracted a wide range of support from all parts of Dumfries and Galloway".
Lorna Slater from the Scottish Greens said that the £10 million investment in the national park “would bring directly into the area, will create jobs, and develop infrastructure that locals and tourists alike can enjoy”.
"It would be very disappointing if this opportunity for the future of Galloway was missed, because of the work of a ‘no’ campaign that hasn’t been clear about its funding and appears to be anything but grassroots.”
