SCOTTISH Labour has unveiled a Highlands and Islands manifesto which includes a promise to invest in Scotlandâs ferry fleet and devolve more powers from Edinburgh to local communities.
Party leader Anas Sarwar said: âFor many communities in the Highlands and Islands the pandemic exposed the challenges they have long faced.
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âFrom poor digital connectivity to isolation to barriers in healthcare access, the difficulties posed by the pandemic are by no means new to communities in the Highlands and Islands.
âThe Highlands and Islands cannot afford another five years of bickering about the same old arguments. The next parliament needs to be focused on rebuilding your economy and your communities after Covid.â
ALL4Unity, which targets the list vote similar to Alex Salmondâs Alba party but for the opposite political aim, has apologised for chopping Shetland off its unity election leaflets.
The partyâs lead candidate for the Highlands and Islands Moira Ramage said she could only apologise for the error, which shouldnât have happened. âIt’s entirely our fault,â she said.
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âI understand why people would be angry. I would be too. We are trying very hard to make a change for the better and move away from the constant ‘neverendum’ which is so damaging to Scotland. Hopefully people will be forgiving.â
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Change can be a scary thing for some people. But in reality, it is the one constant in all our lives.
Changing where you put your cross in the box on 6 May could make a massive difference to these Islands, so lending your vote to a young, energetic, forward thinking Shetlander like Tom Wills is a change for the better.
Luke Malcolmson
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âWEâVE GOT new young members who are really active, so it feels very different this time around,â says second-time SNP candidate Tom Wills when asked to assess the partyâs chances of ending a Liberal hegemony that has lasted since the Scottish Parliamentâs foundation.
In the August 2019 by-election to replace Liberal Democrat MSP Tavish Scott, who had held the Shetland seat for 20 years, Wills came a creditable second with 32 per cent of the vote. But to go one better this time around requires overturning a margin of nearly 2,000 votes that separated him and Scottâs successor Beatrice Wishart.
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THE SCOTTISH Greens say no new open cage salmon farms should be allowed in inshore waters until the industry is governed by stricter regulations.
This extends to proposed expansions of existing farms, the party said.
Mark Ruskell, the lead Scottish Green candidate for Mid Scotland and Fife, said that industrial salmon farming is “increasingly out of control, posing an ever-growing threat to wildlife, our natural environment, and local communities”.
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“The industry needs to become sustainable if jobs are to be supported for the long term,” he said.
“Urgent action is needed. Parliament was very clear that the status quo was not an option, but the SNP remain wedded to the status quo.