The evacuation of St Kilda – archive, 1 December 1930

1 December 1930: The Parliamentary Under Secretary for Scotland responds to criticism of the removal of the inhabitants from the remote island

Related: St Kilda: the edge of the world

Sir Reginald Macleod of Macleod, speaking in Edinburgh on Saturday, referred to the removal of the inhabitants from the island of St. Kilda, of which he is proprietor. He intended, he said, to give the Government no peace until the people were properly treated and the restoration of their property secured. It was not enough to take the people from their homes and simply dump them down elsewhere; these people were entire strangers to modern life, and he demanded that the Government should continue to care for them and see that they were not lost in strange places.