There has been a highly politicised and fact-free campaign against the Scotish Government’s quite sensible proposal to lease 25% of Scotland’s forest estate to raise the money to pay for climate change measures – which the taxpayer would other wise have to find.

For Argyll has noted with some amusement that Alan Reid MP, a minor player in this campaign, has issued a statement to the Argyllshire Advertiser welcoming the appointment of Roseanna Cunningham as Environment Minister, replacing Michael Russell who has been promoted to Culture Minister with responsibility also for Europe, External Affairs and the Independence Referendum to be held in 2010.

In his statement, Alan Reid says: ‘I am delighted that former Minister Michael Russell has been replaced (note: this is phrased to suggest failure – Alan is a spinner with the rest of them). He simply was not listening to the strong opposition of the people of Argyll to the SNP plans (note: not the ‘Scottish Government plans’ but the party political phrase: ‘SNP plans’) to sell our forests to private investment companies (note: the plan is not ‘to sell our forests’ but to lease 25% of them for 75 years).’

Mr Reid goes on: ‘I have sent her a message of congratulations and asked her to come to a public meeting when she is scheduled to be in Argyll on February 23rd to meet Councillors’.

It is instructive to compare some facts here.

Alan Reid has made contact with Roseanna Cunningham, at least 11 days in advance, to ask her to attend a meeting in Lochgilphead on 23rd February. In contrast to this fairly prompt action, he emailed Michael Russell about the previous meeting (itself held after the consultation period was already over) at 11.23pm on 27th January on an event scheduled for less than three days later on 30th January.

Interestingly Mr Reid addressed that midnight email not to Michael Russell but to ‘Government Ministers’ – which is the Holyrood ‘pool’ address. This receives hundreds of emails daily from the general public – to any and all Ministers and on every conceivable subject. It is staffed by an admin team who simply plough their way down the incoming deluge and issue general responses as a holding operation while they draw matters to the attention of the ministers concerned.

There is no way that an email sent at this notice to the general sink email address could have reached the Environment Minister in time – and it didn’t. The email pool staff did not even get to Mr Reid’s dead letter until 2nd February. The meeting was then told that no response had been received from the Minister to an invitation to attend or to send a statement.

Mr Reid’s fulsome and early welcome and invitation to Roseanna Cunningham would suggest that he sees her as a pushover where he was clearly running scared that Michael Russell – a combative debater on top of his brief – might actually come to his meeting. His actions in ‘inviting’ the Minister in an email sent this late speaks of a man havering out of fear.

Havering might be construed as an unfair judgement, as would procrastination, perhaps the Member for Argyll and Bute would like to comment below on what his reasons were for sending out the invitation at such a late juncture and to such a generic email address.

Alan Reid’s  judgement is no more secure on this occasion. Roseanna Cunningham is a formidable and well informed politician and Mr Reid is unlikely to find her rolling over when faced with however many anxious, angry and under-informed Argyll folk he can muster.

In clarification, we should state that our sight of the emails from Alan Reid to Ministers on the occasion of the belated Lochgilphead meeting arose from material supplied to us by Alan Reid himself.

For Argyll has found Alan Reid largely to be a conscientious constituency representative at Westminster. His behaviour in this devolved matter has been uncharacteristic, disappointing and has let him down.