Tut-tut tunnel talks

Anyone who heard the BBC Radio Shetland interview last week when our Westminster representative vigorously and rightly challenged about his, and his colleague at Holyrood’s, rationale for holding ‘endless consultations’ about the tunnels, defended them as parliamentary business and not party and personal boosting activities need only asked some simple questions to get to the truth of this matter.

Interview can listened to here. It starts at 15:10 min.

Why, when having been in ‘power’ for ‘us’ for 20 years it is only over the past three he has made the minimalist effort to explore this issue?

Secondly, he did absolutely nothing on tunnels when Secretary of State for Scotland in 2014/15.

Thirdly, nothing was done on tunnels when Tavish Scott was transport minister at Holyrood.

We will get our tunnels, especially if Shetland mainland residents show some backbone and sign up to the tunnel groups.

This action alone, as called for by SAAT [Shetland Autonomy Action Team] – is the biggest single sign to the council, Holyrood and Westminster that this is our greatest priority and goes hand in hand with the growth of people on the islands we need to sustain and grow our economy.

If these are beyond our current political representatives, they should resign and make way for people who ‘can do’ instead of endlessly pleepsing and pretending their first priority are the Shetland people.

It is the politics of popular opportunism rather than integrity. The Lib Dems are defined by it.

James J Paton
Lerwick

Note: The first of this week’s Tunnel Vision meetings, hosted by Isles MP Alistair Carmichael and Shetland MSP Beatrice Wishart, will be held today (Monday) in the Baltasound hall starting at 6pm. 

The full schedule can be found here.