The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Blinded by the ferries fiasco
Sir, – The publication of Jane Lax’s letter (Questions to answer over ferries fiasco, letters May 15) brought a wry smile to my face. The fact that these ferries are not operational and are costing us a huge packet is not a smiling matter; what is, however, is reading Ms Lax’s text.
I have written to your publication before, expressing my regret that we in Scotland, are in this predicament and that islanders of Arran have suffered adversely due to the delays and subsequent outages, through no fault of their own.
Derek McKay, Scottish transport minister at the time, was accused of wanting the deal done to be ready for a conference announcement and waving aside contract clauses that would have protected the government (our) purse.
However, she now seems to be targeting Mr Swinney, being finance secretary at the time.
Ms Lax seems to have adopted the strategy of pinning the tail on the donkey in her writings. It does seem she seeks to target those who are responsible whoever they are.
I await her next letter which claims the first minister should have known.
However, Ms Lax does need to remove her blindfold.
The biggest governmentpreventable failure staring everyone in the face is the effects of Brexit, where the UK leader freely admitted that he signed the deal, but it’s the EU’s fault. Mr Johnson admitted that he signed up to it, but the EU are adopting it in a very harsh way.
Could it have been that he wanted the kudos in 2019 of having gotten the deal done and the UK could motor on to the “sunlit uplands of the
future” and ignored advice from those who know better.
He signed up for a “Hard Brexit” to placate the likes of John Redwood and others, but it is us that are getting the “Hard Brexit” results. Living in Craigellachie, that notable producer of Scotch whisky, Ms Lax must be aware of the impact of Brexit on the Speyside malts.
I look forward to the day when Ms Lax has a letter published which offers genuine criticism of her Conservative colleagues in the UK Government, Scottish Government and Moray Council. I am not holding my breath.
Alistair Ballantyne. Birkhill,
Angus.