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Letters / Pleepsin the default position?

Your article on Cllr. Fraser’s frustrations on behalf of SIC officers having to spend time writing reports for Holyrood was revealing.

Councillor’s ‘frustration’ at time required to prepare reports for government

It is called public accountability albeit upwards, given there is very little evidence of downward accountability to us peasants.

Such frustrations come on the back of an excellent online seminar [on political autonomy for the Faroe & Shetland islands] on Thursday by UHI – University of Highlands & Islands – on which only a few councillors showed up. Was Cllr. Fraser one of them?

Cllr. Fraser might want to deploy some of his time to developing meat on the bones – policy proposals and strategy – on the existing empty SIC policy for getting greater autonomy, which could relieve the so called hard pressed SIC of the burden of the Scottish Government.

Pleepsin gets you where exactly?

At the seminar, at which our equally hard-pressed Cllr Robinson floated yet another excuse for doing nothing on getting greater autonomy.

He and his pal(s) over the past three years have demonstrated incredible powers of inertia. The latest excuse was implying we need some international or national crises to provoke himself and the alleged leadership of the council into action on autonomy. Pathetic!

Pleepsin about Holyrood is the council’s default position instead of working on home-grown solutions to any issues we face now or in the future. Nae guts, nae glory!

Maybe the deputy leader has too much on his plate and fevered brow, what with chairing the local health board. Maybe after his pay rise can allow the ‘gravy’ to be shared with another with more time to do one of his two jobs full justice.

James J Paton
Lerwick Community Council

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