Meeting of the Parliament 06 October 2015
I thank Mr McArthur for making my point for me: it seems that he was not able to give one example.
As an islander and as a representative of the Highlands and Islands region, I welcome the consultation on the proposed islands bill as one more milestone on a journey that, as we heard, started in July 2013 when, at a Cabinet meeting in Lerwick, the then First Minister announced the formation of the islands area ministerial working group. That was the Scottish Government’s first response to the our islands, our future campaign waged by the three island authorities, which sought better opportunities for Scotland’s islands.
I remember that day in Lerwick well. It was a day of blue skies and warm sunshine, but there was also some uncertainty about whether the Cabinet meeting would go ahead, as there was concern that flights might be delayed or cancelled due to the possibility of sea fog that often accompanies such weather on Shetland. Those are the uncertainties of travel with which islanders live in summer as well as winter, and that point was well noted by all present.
Less than a year later, in June 2014, I was on Orkney for the launch of “Empowering Scotland’s Island Communities”, an 80-page Scottish Government document full of substantive proposals with the overall aim of levelling the playing field between Scotland’s islands and its mainland areas that recognised the generations of regional disadvantage from which our islands have suffered. It is a thoughtful and comprehensive document, and it was warmly welcomed by the island authorities and by island and coastal communities throughout the Highlands and Islands.
It is important that many of the proposals in that document apply not just to the island authorities but to all of Scotland’s islands and to coastal communities, not least of which is the devolution of 100 per cent of Crown Estate revenues. I wish it was possible to devolve more of the Crown Estate revenues, but I understand that it could not be more than 100 per cent.
I can only contrast that with the lukewarm and limpid response from the UK Government that followed in August of that year, in a document entitled “A Framework for the Islands”. I am sure that everybody has forgotten about the document, which comprised a few pages of warm words and not much else. It promised greater transparency of Crown Estate revenues, although those are still shrouded in fog, like Sumburgh airport on a summer’s day. It promised a desk and an officer at the Scotland Office to deal with island issues, although there is no evidence to date that that officer has done anything other than twiddle his thumbs.
Underpinning the meaninglessness of that document is the following caveat:
“This framework is a statement of political intent and it does not create legal obligations between the parties. It is intended to be binding in honour only.”
As I contemplate the unionist parties and their various promises to the Scottish people, I can reflect only that honour appears to be a very scarce commodity.