Make your mind up

In the pretend newspaper that Lib Dem candidate Emma Macdonald sent to every Shetland household there are several whinges about the SNP government allegedly giving Shetland less money than we deserve.

She’s echoing her patron, Alistair Carmichael MP, who recently asked,

in his Shetland Times column: “Why does the SNP always find it so difficult to get money into island communities?”

This seems odd because, shortly before the ‘Shetland Gazette’ flopped through our letterboxes, Emma signed a letter thanking the Scottish Government for its plans, announced in the budget debate, for a new way to release funds for major capital projects like tunnels and ferry replacements.

The letter, also signed by the council leaders of the Orkney and the Western Isles, said: “We are delighted with the positive engagement we have had with the Scottish Government, resulting in this welcome announcement of an islands accelerator model which will invest hundreds of millions of pounds in our three island communities.”

So, Emma, is your favourite whine still “SNP baaad” or, given the Scottish Government’s annual investment of more than £250 million in Shetland’s public services, is it now perhaps “SNP not so bad after all”?

Make your mind up.

Chris Bain
Levenwick