Green MSP to support Trump court case
For immediate release 10 January 2010
Tomorrow Robin Harper MSP will attend Edinburgh's High Court to support the latest legal efforts to secure access to justice for Molly Forbes, one of the Menie residents threatened with compulsory purchase and eviction by the Trump Organisation and Aberdeenshire Council despite a groundswell of public opposition to this move.
Molly, 86, will tomorrow find out whether she will have pay legal expenses to Aberdeenshire Council and Trump International. Last year ownership of an acre of land belonging to Molly's son Michael Forbes - the so-called Bunker - was transferred to Robin Harper and a group of others, including Lord Puttnam and Green MP Caroline Lucas, in a move designed to hamper any future eviction on Mr Trump's behalf.
Robin Harper MSP said:
"This case is clear-cut for me. Molly, just like her family and the other families living on the Menie Estate, should have the right to stay in her own home if she wishes to do so. Mr Trump's bullying approach to the local community has been aided and abetted by the Aberdeenshire Council administration, SNP Ministers, and their officials. It's time for the courts to take a stand and prove that access to Scottish justice isn't only for the rich.
"The local residents need certainty and reassurance, not the kind of high-handed disregard they have been shown by the Scottish establishment from the First Minister downwards. I am pleased to be able to offer my support to Molly and to the many others who just wish to live without the cloud of eviction hanging over them."
YouGov surveyed 1114 Scots from 26-28 October 2009. The poll was commissioned jointly by Tripping Up Trump and the Scottish Green Party, and the question asked was as follows:
Aberdeenshire Council earlier this month refused to rule out the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) to remove people from land which Donald Trump wishes to use for a housing and golf development. Compulsory Purchase Orders could therefore be used to force residents to leave their homes.
Supporters of the CPO claim that the resort would be a welcome investment in the local area and could create more than 1200 new jobs, whilst the residents argue that use of CPOs undermines their right to remain in their homes.
To what extent do you support or oppose compulsory purchase orders being used to evict local residents from their homes to accommodate Donald Trump's housing and golf development in Aberdeenshire in this instance?
Strongly support » 3%
Tend to support » 10%
TOTAL SUPPORT » 13%
Neither support nor oppose » 11%
Tend to oppose » 25%
Strongly oppose » 49%
TOTAL OPPOSE » 74%
Don’t know » 3%