Monday 5 October 2026
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Letters /

Green legacy?

I cannot be the only one who was astounded to see Green MSP Ariane Burgess extolling the merits of decentralisation in her recent Shetland Times column.

If there is any legacy to the Greens’ time in coalition with the SNP – besides shamelessly abandoning Scottish Government climate targets – it is surely their attempt to impose centralised, top-down HPMAs on our communities.

Ariane Burgess was an aggressive advocate for that plan in Shetland, while the Green candidate in the current general election kept his mouth uncharacteristically zipped.

Warm words about decentralisation count for little when we have seen the Greens’ centralising approach in action.

Theo Smith
Whiteness

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