I bridled strongly when Labour introduced their Right to Roam, fearing that it would be misused by the hard Left to stir up unnecessary trouble in the countryside. In fact, greater access to the uplands has been a very good thing.

As millions of people know, one of the great pleasures of walking in areas of the uplands managed for grouse is to see and hear large numbers of curlew, lapwing and golden plover - all ground-nesting birds largely absent or in rapidly declining numbers elsewhere.

I never thought I would hear Labour and Scottish Nationalist ministers in both Westminster and Holyrood publicly recognise the environmental benefits of good grouse moor management.

Nicholas Soames Quotes