Highlands and Islands MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston has been left “disappointed” by the SNP’s Transport Minister’s response to last week’s ferries debate at Holyrood.
The Scottish Conservative MSP said Graeme Dey MSP, who replied on behalf of the Scottish Government, failed to grasp the seriousness of the situation and the widespread, cross-party anger of MSPs who spoke in the debate.
Mr Halcro Johnston, who is from Orkney and who sponsored the debate, said: “My Member’s Debate on ferries attracted contributions from MSPs from across all the political parties in the Scottish Parliament, and most recognised that this is a growing crisis and one which needs real, immediate action. We heard many examples of how islands - and other communities served by ferries - are being let down time and time again by the lack of a reliable service and any real resilience in the system. And just how this impacts on local residents and businesses."
“Unfortunately, rather than accepting the urgency of the situation and the concerns of local people, the Transport Minister’s response will have done little to reassure them that the Scottish Government is taking the situation seriously. The Minister dismissed widespread demands for a new ferries strategy and tried to highlight the SNP’s existing so-called ‘ferries plan’. But this plan is now years out of date and has failed to deliver the ferries and improvements our communities need."
“Calls for clarity in support for delivering and maintaining vital inter-island ferry services in the Northern Isles were simply palmed off as the responsibility of local councils, with very little offered in the way of practical Scottish Government support other than a vague offer of ‘perhaps’ helping with the design of new ferries. That’s hardly an area of great expertise for this government, given the fiasco they’ve made of the two promised CalMac boats."
“The Minister also offered little in the way of solutions for the CalMac-run west coast services other than that he’d tasked the Scottish Government owned body to try and find second-hand vessels to fill the gaps caused by vessel shortages. But these shortages are the result of his own government’s epic mismanagement and wilful refusal to heed CalMac’s warnings from as far back as 2010 that they required a new ferry each year from that date just to stand still."
“Graeme Dey’s response shows that this SNP Government remains in denial that this ferries crisis is actually a crisis, and leaves local communities little hope that there are any real solutions being put forward by Edinburgh which might see an improvement in the situation. As I said during the debate, there is a great deal of anger being felt in communities at the extent of this crisis and its impact on them. Anger justified by the real and present failure in Scotland’s approach to ferry connectivity, and the many promises that have been made as easily as they have been broken."
“If it was Glasgow or Edinburgh that faced such challenges, it would be considered a national emergency. But for the Scottish Government in Edinburgh, it’s just another distant distraction.”
The transcript of the full debate is available here: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-27-10-2021?meeting=13370&iob=121323#5800
