Very particularly this was the day Lochgilphead became a community. It moved march organiser Dave Payne, Continue reading
Tag Archives: Lib dem
Argyll & Bute Conservatives light candle for General Election advent
The annual Christmas Gathering of the Scottish Conservative Continue reading
New Argyll free sheet
The Argyll & Bute Gazette has been dropping through letterboxes Continue reading
Mulvaney reveals the game for Argyll & Bute in the coming General Election
The prequel campaign for Argyll & Bute in the next general election is hotting up. Continue reading
SNP carries the fight to Bute
As the prequel to the General Election campaign gathers pace, it is always interesting Continue reading
Televised leadership debates at the General Election – as Cameron calls for ban on Salmond
This has itself been the subject of much debate, with Gordon Brown Continue reading
Jamie McGrigor MSP predicts public anger at loss of Government budget and Councillor Mulvaney tallies consequences for local government
Commenting on yesterday’s vote in the Scottish Parliament where Labour, Lib Dem and Green MSPs combined to vote down the Scottish Government’s budget, Highlands & Islands Conservative MSP Jamie McGrigor has said: ‘The public in the Highlands and Islands will rightly be very angry with and frustrated at those parties that voted against the Scottish budget.
‘At a time of economic recession, MSPs should have been able to act constructively – as the Scottish Conservatives did- and negotiate to allow the budget to be passed and therefore money passed to our public services timeously. (Editor: now here’s a word rarely seen and a fun addition to the vocabulary: means ‘in good time’)
‘This is an extremely serious situation and, as my leader Annabel Goldie said, Labour’s and the Lib Dems’ actions are grossly irresponsible and frankly pathetic- it is political posturing of the worst kind which could cost Scotland £1.8 billion and will only increase uncertainty during Labour’s recession.
‘As Communities Spokesman myself, I had backed strongly our policy to spend £60 million on the regeneration of town centres; that would have been very valuable to places like Oban, Campbeltown, Dunoon, Rothesay in my native Argyll and scores of other towns across my region of the Highlands & Islands’.
Mr McGrigor’s comments are among many expressions of outrage sent to for Argyll from all corners.
His colleague in local government, Councilor Gary Mulvaney, Conservative Group Leader on Argyll & Bute council and parliamentary candidate said: ‘Labour and the Liberal Democrats have delivered a massive tax bombshell to local government finance.
‘By voting the budget down, they have saddled Scottish councils with a cut of £660m. This means a £359 increase on Band D Council Tax average for those in Argyll & Bute, leading to an annual Band D record high of £1537.
‘All this comes on top of the 60% increase in Council Tax that we had to cope with when the Lib Dem’s and Labour were running Scotland, and one year after progress was made when Scottish Conservatives voted for the Scottish Government’s Council Tax freeze’.
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Comment from Environment Minister, Michael Russell MSP, on political scaremongering on forest leasing scheme
For Argyll has reported several times on uninformed and irresponsible political scaremongering on the Scottish Government’s forest leasing proposals. The latest example of this – and the subject of a very recent report – was unfortunately perpetrated by former Argyll & Bute MSP, George Lyon at the opening of his campaign to go to Brussels as an MEP.
Michael Russell has now himself sent For Argyll a comment on this matter – and please note his invitation to put forward any suggestions and ideas which you think would improve the proposed scheme.
Mr Russell says:
‘The Liberal Democrat campaign of disinformation about the forestry proposals is now a matter of serious concern. People have a right to expect their elected representatives and their potential candidates to tell the truth but alas on this occasion the Liberal Democrats have preferred to peddle downright lies.
‘I suspect it will rebound upon them but for any party – or any individual – to seek a few extra votes by means of deliberate deceit is a disgrace to democracy. And when the issue goes to the heart of the greatest challenge facing humanity – that of climate change – then most of us will only have contempt for such people.
‘I remain open to all views on the forestry proposals, including ideas that can improve upon them or present viable alternatives. All I ask is that such a debate is conducted using fact, not fiction. On that criteria the Liberal Democrats have excluded themselves from the discussion’.
Today’s Scotsman carried a factual piece underlining just how falsely based is the convenient alarmism of the moment.
It reminds us that Scotland has 1.1 million acres of state-owned forest (460,000 hectares), making the ninety year-old Forestry Commission Scotland biggest landowner. It needs an annual subsidy of £28million, some of which is used for non-commercial activities, leaving the forest estates still losing millions of pounds each year.
The Scotsman goes on to say that Jim Hume, the Lib Dem’s Environment Spokesman, has implied that:
- local businesses will lose contracts
- outdoor activities the Forestry Commission supports will be stopped
- hundreds of jobs will be at risk
- Forestry Commission Scotland’s income will be ‘severely diminished’
- all if state forests – 25% of them – are leased to the private sector.
The Scotsman dismisses such alarmism as ‘grossly misplaced’. It points out that virtually all facilities made available to the public in the forests could be safeguarded in the terms of the lease – and Michael Russell has guaranteed that they will be.
In fact such facilities cannot be other than safeguarded since they are all certified under the UK’s Woodland Assurance Scheme. This deals with issues like the provision of local employment, public access, biodiversity and health and safety.
As the Scotsman says and as For Argyll has ponted out on many occasions, it is only the taxpayer-funded annual subsidy which will be ‘severely diminished’.
New Scottish Lib Dem Leader, Tavish Scott, enters the Vestas debate
Tavish Scott, the Shetland MSP recently elected Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats has quickly engaged with Vestas’s proposed closure of their wind turbine manufacturing plant at Campbeltown. He is asking Scottish Ministers to fly to Denmark in a last-ditch effort to try to save the ninety plus jobs at stake. It is known that the Enterprise Minister, Jim Mather, Argyll’s MSP, has already had high level discussion with senior management at Vestas – in Glasgow – after the company at first insisted that all talks should take place in Denmark.
At the 2007 election, Argyll changed its political colours for the first time in around forty years. The SNP’s Jim Mather, who had been a ‘list’ MSP for Argyll, took the Holyrood seat from previous incumbent, Bute farmer, George Lyon, a Liberal Democrat. With a significant business background, Mather was immediately appointed Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism, a brief close to Argyll’s needs and resources. The Lib Dems have long held the Westminster seat for Argyll and Bute. Baroness Ray Michie, who died earlier this year, was succeeded on her retirement as MP by fellow liberal Alan Reid, the current member. The party will be keen to retain the Westminster seat and to try to regain the Holyrood one from the SNP. The SNP, for its part, will be working to keep the Hoyrood gain and to take the Westminster seat.
All good news for Campbeltown folk who need as many as possible working – and why not competitively? – in their interests, against the multinational Vestas corporation.