Meeting of the Parliament 04 March 2026 [Draft]
Ferries are critical infrastructure for Scotland’s islands—islands that are, according to Scottish Government social media posts, “central to Scotland’s future”. No community should be left without viable lifeline services or experience the ferries fiasco that is outlined in the motion.
Coincidentally, we heard again today at lunch time, at a meeting of the cross-party group on islands, convened by Jamie Halcro Johnston, about how critical it is that island communities have reliable ferries. It will come as no surprise to members in the chamber that my contribution today will focus on the northern isles.
The transport secretary said yesterday that the total of 1,100 responses that Transport Scotland received to its northern isles ferry service consultation was
“substantial for a project of this nature”—[Official Report, 3 March 2026; c 19.]
In contrast to the cabinet secretary, however, I am not surprised by how many responses were received. In 2023, I undertook a survey on the NorthLink passenger service—it received more than 1,000 responses. I sent the results to the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland and received lukewarm platitudes, yet the issues that respondents raised were the same in 2023—