News / Swinney ‘dumbfounded’ that NorthLink passengers cannot book for 2026
Packed meeting discusses autonomy, energy, transport and Shaetlan
FIRST minister John Swinney has said he is “dumbfounded” by NorthLink passengers not being able to book travel for 2026.
The first minister faced questions from the public at a talk in the Shetland Museum and Archives on Tuesday night, and was grilled on NorthLink’s performance for the Northern Isles.
He was asked to explain why Shetlanders were having to wait to be able to book ferry travel for next year, a question that left him stumped.
Transport minister Fiona Hyslop said earlier this year that the hold-up was to await the release of May’s Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate, so the government could decide on the fares for the coming year.
However with the CPI announcement made on 18 June, passengers are still being made to wait to book for travel from 1 January and beyond.
Speaking to Shetland News after the event, Swinney said he was “a bit dumbfounded” by the issue – adding: “I don’t understand that at all”.
He promised he would personally investigate the hold-up.
“There’ll be a reason, no doubt, but when the first minister starts putting a spotlight on things there’s got to be an awful good reason,” he said.
“That’s the fair warning to people there’ll be some questions coming down the road. We’ll see what comes from that.”
SNP candidate Hannah Mary Goodlad moderated Wednesday night’s Shetland’s Future: Our Seat at the Table forum, which was sold out, and featured a question-and-answer session with Swinney and Goodlad.
Before that, figures from the local language, energy, news and science sectors discussed topics including greater autonomy for Shetland and the isles’ energy future.
Autonomy
Swinney spoke earlier in the day about discussions between the Scottish Government and Shetland Islands Council having “intensified” over autonomy in recent weeks.
Quizzed by Shetland News’ editor Hans Marter on this, the first minister said he wanted local authorities to have “flexibility” to make decisions for themselves.
“I think decisions are best taken by the people closer to the decision matter,” he said.
“I want to make sure there is the flexibility and the autonomy to make sure that is the case.”
However, Goodlad said it was up to Shetland to come to the Scottish Government and ask for what it wanted.
Later in the talk, Swinney was asked by former councillor Jonathan Wills what the SIC had asked for in its talks over autonomy.
The first minister said the SIC had spoken about “Crown Estate revenues” and had “planning questions”, but that there was “not a specific shopping list of powers” the council was looking for.
NorthLink
Perhaps the loudest crowd reaction was saved for Ivor Cluness’ question about NorthLink’s performance, which he called “deplorable”.
Cluness said that it was near-impossible to get onto the ferries, particularly at short notice, and also heavily criticised the pricing.
He drew the biggest laugh of the night when he told Swinney he did not want to sleep overnight in a pod, adding: “Look at the size of me”.
Cluness did, however, praise NorthLink’s local staff – which again drew a warm round of applause.
On stage, Swinney struggled to understand the reasons for onward bookings past December not being open.
Speaking after the talk, the first minister promised to take Cluness’ points about NorthLink’s service back to Transport Scotland.
It comes at a time when the Northern Isles ferry contract is up for grabs, with a Scottish Government consultation currently open until 13 October.
Swinney said the purpose of him being in Shetland was to “reflect back what people are thinking”.
“I hope people are using the opportunity of the consultation to make their views hear about this,” he said.
“I certainly will take those points back.”
He also reaffirmed his commitment, made to Shetland News earlier in the day, that pilot work would be undertaken to explore whether a local quota of cabins for islanders could be set aside in peak summer months.
Energy
Understandably a large portion of the evening was dedicated to energy, and in particular concerns about future large-scale developments and the companies behind them.
Voar Energy director Daniel Gear called it a “moral outrage” that the profits of major energy companies continued to rise while Shetlanders’ fuel bills did likewise.
And Goodlad called it the “greatest travesty” of the Viking wind farm saga that the people of Shetland were seeing very little benefits from the development, one which Gear said was roughly six times bigger than England’s biggest wind farm.
Swinney was continually critical of the UK energy market, constraint payments and the UK Government’s recent decision not to explore zonal pricing further.
He visited the Garth wind farm in Yell, run by the North Yell Development Council (NYDC), on Wednesday morning and was full of praise for the community-led enterprise – which has reaped real rewards for the island.
The first minister said he was “full of admiration for what they have achieved”.
But he said that, without the “absolute tenacity” of the NYDC, he did not think it would have happened – to applause from the audience.
He likened the work they had done to get the project completed “like pushing water up a hill”, and said the question he had wanted to ask them about that process was: “How do they retain the will to live?”
Language
Musician Claire White also made an impassioned speech for Shaetlan to be included in the 2031 national census as a named language during the forum.
She called the Sheatlan language movement “incredible” while speaking in Sheatlan, promising Swinney a copy of her speech in English afterwards.
And she also provided him with a copy of the new book Shaetlan: A young language wi aald røts, signed by authors Viveka Velupillai and Roy Mullay, which Swinney was seen to read after the forum.
White highlighted the lack of government support for Shaetlan compared to languages like Scots and Gaelic, with Swinney promising that the “door is open” for Shaetlan to be featured on the next census.
Later in the talk, White spoke passionately about the spirit and power of Shetland and its people – urging them to band together and saying they were “unstoppable” when they did so.
Speaking after the forum, Swinney said White’s “hopefulness and optimism” were “utterly inspiring”.
And he added that her speech had struck a chord with him, particularly in its backing of the people of Shetland.
Goodlad closed the night with a personal contribution, saying that she could “see the big divide between rich and poor more than ever before” in Shetland when she returned to the isles less than a year ago.
She told the crowd that she “hope we go away with some sort of fire in our belly” about what was good about Shetland, and what needed to be changed.
With the Scottish parliamentary election not until next May, Goodlad promised that more events like this would be organised – with more Scottish ministers in the isles to answer the people’s questions.
Become a member of Shetland News
Shetland News is asking its readers to consider paying for membership to get additional perks:
- Removal of third-party ads;
- Bookmark posts to read later;
- Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
- Hide membership messages;
- Comments open for discussion.
If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.
Already a member? Sign in to hide this message.
