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ALLAN WELCOMES BEGINNING OF LEWIS CHESSMEN TOUR |
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09/06/2010 |
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Western Isles SNP MSP, Alasdair Allan, today welcomed the launch at the National Museum of Scotland of the Lewis Chessmen tour across Scotland. This tour will see the Lewis chessmen temporarily exhibited in the Western Isles from April to September 2011. Alasdair Allan commented: “The Lewis Chessmen were found in Uig in Lewis in 1831 and I warmly welcome the news that they will once more be returning to Lewis, if only temporarily as part of this tour. “It is in large part thanks to funding and support by the Scottish Government that this exhibition of huge local and cultural importance to the Western Isles, and national important to Scotland, are able to be displayed across Scotland. “The Scottish Government is maintaining negotiations with the British Museum with the aim of ensuring that the chessmen return to Scotland permanently. I believe such a deal should include an exhibition of some of the pieces in Lewis. “For the moment, however, this represents real progress, and the British Museum, the National Museum of Scotland, and the Scottish Government are all to be congratulated for ensuring that the chessmen will be here during the Year of Island Culture. “Historic artefacts always mean a hundred times more in context, and the Lewis Chessmen have always been a symbol for the islands. I look forward to seeing them in Lewis.” |
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ALLAN WRITES CROSS-PARTY LETTER TO CHANCELLOR SEEKING CHEAPER FUEL |
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09/06/2010 |
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Western Isles SNP MSP, Alasdair Allan, has today written to Chancellor George Osbourne, in a joint letter with the MSPs from Orkney and Shetland, seeking cheaper fuel for Scotland's islands. Dr Allan asked for further details of the proposals contained in the Coalition Partnership Agreement between the Lib-dems and Conservatives, which commits the new UK Government to investigate measures to help with fuel costs in rural areas. Alasdair Allan commented: “As the MSP for the Western Isles I was interested to see what there is in the Coalition Partnership Agreement about fuel prices. But words have to be matched by actions. I will be very interested to see where any pilot schemes on fuel price reduction are to be, and both Angus MacNeil MP and I have now pressed this point with the Chancellor. “In the Western Isles, fuel costs are extreme, and there is virtually no public transport alternative. We have, for years, suffered from having to pay significantly higher prices at the pumps for petrol and diesel than those living in or close to urban parts of Scotland. This imposes a serious burden which leads to the inevitable suffering of Individuals and businesses. “Along with other Island MSP colleagues I have therefore requested that the Scottish islands are used to pilot any measures to reduce fuel costs. “Given that the Western Isles has amongst the highest fuel prices in the world, the case for fuel price reduction measures being piloted here is very strong. I have urged the Chancellor to respond positively to this request. I would hope that he will do so following the continued pressure on this issue from both myself and Angus MacNeil over the past several years.” |
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ALLAN MEETS REGULATOR OVER UIST COMMUNITY TURBINE DELAY |
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09/06/2010 |
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Western Isles SNP MSP, Alasdair Allan, yesterday met with energy regulators, Ofgem, where he raised the issue of delays in connecting community renewable projects in Uist and elsewhere to the National Grid. Alasdair Allan met in the Scottish Parliament with Charles Gallacher, the Scotland Director of Ofgem. Dr Allan commented: “I have in recent days contacted both Stòras Uibhist and a number of other community organisations in the Western Isles who had understood from Scottish and Southern Energy that they could expect their community renewable projects to be connected to the grid in accordance with a speedy timetable. As is now well known these organisations are all highly disappointed to be facing delays. “I raised this subject with Mr Gallacher and he confirmed that Ofgem had been in talks with SSE about this subject. I have also sought a meeting with SSE themselves. There is no doubt about the concern which many communities now have about their projects and SSE has a duty to explain themselves. “I also took the opportunity to press Ofgem about the issue of transmission charges. As things stand, essentially the further a renewable project is from London the higher the transmission charges are. This system of charging may have made sense at a time when power stations were deliberately concentrated around urban areas but it now discriminates against the very parts of the country where communities are exploiting wind and wave power.” |
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ALLAN CLOSES WHITBREAD CROFTING LOOPHOLE |
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09/06/2010 |
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Western Isles SNP MSP, Alasdair Allan, has today successfully moved an amendment to the Crofting Reform Bill which closes an infamous loophole in crofting law. The so-called "Whitbread" loophole has allowed speculation in inbye crofting land in the past by allowing croft land to be passed to people who have no intention of it being used either for crofting or for housing crofters’ families. Dr Allan submitted an amendment to the Crofting Reform Bill, which was going through Stage 2 proceedings in the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs and Environment Committee today. This amendment removes the "sale by nominee" or Whitbread anomaly, a loophole has been of more use to housing developers than to crofting in the past in some areas. Alasdair Allan commented: "Today the Rural Affairs Committee accepted the case for dealing with this anomaly, which has existed since a court ruling in 1992. "The amendment does not affect crofters’ right to assign crofts or to inherit them, but it does restrict the right to use the "sale by nominee" procedure. As I argued today in Parliament, this procedure was never designed to allow anyone to pass crofting land to housing developers. From now on, if the Crofting Reform Bill is passed into law, this amendment will restrict the right to appoint nominees to within the crofter's family. "I have been contacted by quite a number of crofters themselves about this issue, as well as by the West Harris Trust who, as a community landlord, are anxious to ensure that land remains in crofting and that we address, at least in part, the prohibitive cost of house plots. “I was very pleased to receive cross support for this amendment in committee today. I hope that this is a further improvement to the legislation which the Government is bringing forward in the Crofting Reform Bill, which is still very much a work in progress. .We now need to wait until Stage 3 in the parliamentary process before the Bill is in its final form.” |
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ALLAN SALUTES MACNEIL OF BARRA |
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18/02/2010 |
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Western Isles MSP, Alasdair Allan, has expressed his personal sadness at the death of Iain MacNeil of Barra, the 46th Chief of the Clan MacNeil. |
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