Meeting of the Parliament 21 May 2025
I was pleased to hear Beatrice Wishart talk about tunnels. Having visited the Faroe Islands and seen its wonderful tunnel network, I certainly think that the Scottish Government should do more to explore the possibility of tunnels for some of our archipelagos.
I have the privilege of representing the most beautiful of Scotland’s 93 inhabited islands—Arran, Cumbrae and Holy Isle—and it is a pleasure to debate empowering Scotland’s island communities today.
Islands hold a special place in Scotland’s culture and our collective imagination. Writing in the British Journal of Photography in 1885, Sherlock Holmes writer Arthur Conan Doyle dubbed Arran
“the epitome of the whole of Scotland”
and said:
“Nowhere can the wandering photographer find in such a small compass so many varying beauties upon which to exercise his skill”.
Further, it was in Arran, while navigating the ridge between Beinn Tarsuinn and Cìr Mhòr, that outdoor writer and broadcaster Cameron McNeish decided to dedicate the rest of his life
“to climbing mountains and exploring wild places.”
Arran can even claim that it has influenced rap, with musician Loyle Carner naming his breakout single “Isle of Arran” in tribute to the island and its deep personal significance.
Despite our reverence for our islands and their mammoth cultural footprint, they face challenges that can seem invisible to those on the mainland: depopulation, housing shortages, fragile transport links and the high cost of living.
The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 was a watershed moment, and Scotland is one of the few countries in the world to have created island-specific legislation. The 2018 act embedded island proofing in the formation of policy and legislation. The first national islands plan, introduced a year and a half after passage of the 2018 act, set out 13 strategic objectives and 134 specific commitments that are aimed at improving the quality of life for Scotland’s island communities.
The sheer volume of commitments must be addressed in the second national islands plan. The majority of individuals and organisations who responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the first plan believed that the number was just too high. The next plan should prioritise, and deliver on, more tightly focused commitments, especially as islanders themselves do not feel that enough progress is being made.
Let us take transport as the chief strategic concern. Work to purchase Ardrossan harbour and redevelop it to accommodate the MV Glen Sannox and the MV Glen Rosa is crucial. The Government’s intention to bring the harbour into public ownership is enormously welcome, but it must be matched by delivery.
Of course, there have been successes with ferries. For example, the introduction of the road equivalent tariff means that, for my constituents, ferry fares are cheaper now than they were 18 years ago, despite high inflation over that period. That has meant more visitors to the islands.
I was an MSP in the summer of 2007, and I remember that the second ferry to Arran was an old tub called “The Saturn”, and that 15 per cent of its sailings were cancelled because of breakdowns. It ran only for a few weeks, whereas there is now a second ferry for six months. It has not all been bad news.
More must be done to empower our island communities in relation to ferries. As Fergus Ewing touched on, it is widely recognised that the lack of islander representation on the CalMac, CMAL and David MacBrayne Ltd boards suits no one. It fuels perceptions that those organisations are detached from the islands that they exist to serve, and it leads to poorer decision making. Despite the issue being campaigned on for years, progress to improve islander representation has been limited at best.
Why has the community on Cumbrae had to fight off a short-notice attempt by CalMac to overturn a summer timetable that has been in place for more than 40 years? I thank the Cabinet Secretary for Transport for reversing CalMac’s unilateral decision within a week. Why, when the community expresses a clear preference to return to a system of return-only tickets for the sake of speed and efficiency, does CalMac refuse to listen?
Regarding Holy Isle, the peace and tranquillity of the Buddhist convent there is under threat from proposals by Forestry and Land Scotland—a Scottish Government agency—to industrialise the area around Kingscross, across Lamlash Bay, with an unwanted timber export facility. No one locally supports the plans for Kingscross, and the strength of feeling against the project cannot be overstated.
Island communities face stark demographic challenges. The number of people aged 65 and older on Arran has increased by 38 per cent since 2001, while the working-age population fell by 17 per cent and the number of children by 37 per cent. Arresting such trends requires more affordable housing, such as the £2.38 million that the Scottish Government has provided to build 34 council houses in Brodick, and the Arran Development Trust’s Rowarden project, which is a shining example of the possibilities. With £1.512 million from the Scottish Government, 18 affordable homes have been built and allocated—three of them just this week—allowing people to stay, work and thrive on the island. Crucially, Arran Development Trust did that with a proportionately much lower central Government grant than other island housing projects, which provides a possible template for other affordable housing projects.
Our islands are central to Scotland’s identity. The 2018 act and the national islands plan have enhanced our focus on them. Nevertheless, when it comes to empowering our islands and delivery, we must go further and faster.
15:58