Angus MacNeil - a record to be proud of 

By the time Am Paipear is published, we will be in the heat of a Westminster election.  I will doubtless be up a lamppost somewhere in Uist, affixing a yellow poster.  

Whatever the ambitions of the UK parties, we have a parliamentary, not presidential democracy. So this election is ultimately about who represents the Western Isles. 

My impression is that people don’t want to hear the politics of fear and smear – though no doubt we will.  

People want to know what candidates have done, and will do, for the islands. 

And in the Western Isles, Angus MacNeil has, I believe, a record of hard work any candidate could be proud of.

Nationally he has put the islands on the map - and not just for making the BBC alter its weather map!  

It was, after all, Angus who first lifted the lid on the scandalous sale of seats in the House of Lords. 

Among many other things, Angus has: 

-          successfully made the case for RET ferry fares 

-          taken up the cases of thousands of individual constituents who contacted him seeking help  

-          successfully argued for Filipino fishermen – an essential part of many island fishing boat crews– to have the right to work here 

-          helped get dramatic change to the Crofting Reform Bill, and the retention of the bull hire scheme 

-          fought for the retention of jobs at the Hebrides Range 

-          argued relentlessly for a fairer deal on fuel costs in the islands 

-          spoken seven hundred times in Parliament on behalf of his constituents

I am proud to have worked with Angus since I was elected, and pleased he is fighting a positive campaign:

 -          for RET ferry fares to be renewed after the pilot period ends next year

-          for progress on a Lochboisdale to Mallaig ferry service

-          for new jobs in the islands

-          to support communities facing school closures

-          to get BBC Alba onto Freeview

-          for winter weather payments that recognise the windchill factor

-          to persuade opposition parties to support abolition of the unfair Council Tax

-          for a secure economic future for Uist and the Hebrides Range

-          for an end to the ludicrous Common Fisheries Policy 

And its why both he and I want the people of Scotland to have their say on Scotland’s future in an independence referendum. 

Who will fight Scotland’s corner in Westminster?  The obvious answer is a group of MPs dedicated solely to Scotland’s interests – and that means the SNP. 

It’s not all election campaigning though …

Although Westminster may be in the throws of a general election, Holyrood is still working as usual, and I am still back and fore between Edinburgh and the thirteen islands I represent.  

I cannot but be aware of the growing sense of unease in many communities about schools. I recently attended a public meeting in Lochmaddy where the community was very vocal on this issue.   

I accept that not every single school in the islands will be able to continue. However, a number of communities have been in touch with me to express their very strong concerns.  It is very early days, I accept.  However, if the proposed list of schools presently up for consultation were all closed, then we would see the Western Isles in a few years time having only half the number of schools it does now. I am anxious to work with the Comhairle to find a way forward that keeps our rural communities attractive to young families.