Focus should be on fixing Brexit mess

Skye cannot cope with tourist influx

SIR, – Ian Lakin (Letters, September 13) is again off the mark, discounting the incidence of warnings provided by industrial and financial leaders, while proffering a superficial analysis that fails to move the debate forward.

He accuses me of cherry-picking. Isn’t this ironic, coming from a doyen of that art? He should note that my views regarding Brexit are unhandicapped by political ideology being borne of personal conviction and an experience of international trade.

Since the referendum, our politics have become polarised between right- and left-wing extremes, our government has failed to deliver on the (undeliverable) promises made in 2016, while the opposition offers no coherent alternative for the biggest issue we have faced since the Second World War. At this eleventh hour, does anyone know the ultimate shape it will take?

Set against this dystopian backdrop, the “pragmatic” Mr Lakin admits to moving his allegiance from Remain to Brexit. Pragmatic? No! Irrational? Yes! As more Leavers wake up to the reality of being lied to and misled by right-wing ideologues, there is an inexorable shift towards Remain. Brexit is now seen for what it is: a flawed ideology symptomatic of internal political and economic imbalances. Our focus should be on fixing this.

Having lost the argument, the Brexiteer’s response is “Let’s just get out now!” Surely, the pragmatic Mr Lakin is uncomfortable in such company? SIR, – Your piece and editorial comments recently regarding whether or not to impose a tourist tax made interesting reading.

As one of the many residents on Skye and elsewhere in the Highlands and Islands who do not have any business interests and who do not benefit from tourism, it comes as no surprise to see a survey indicating that 73% of the “business community” are against such a levy. However, the rest of us also need to be heard as well as those who most directly benefit from tourism. It can be a blight for some of us as well as a blessing and a revenue stream for others – the huge increase in Airbnb, for example.

It has been well reported in many media forms of the catastrophic state of the roads in many parts of Scotland, but particularly places like Skye where we have had enormous influx of tourists for a few years now. We have seen more traffic accidents than ever before and it seems apparent that our roads cannot handle the great increase in volume. This is very telling on an island like ours.

Lack of parking and public toilets have also been well documented and highlighted. Therefore something must be done to remedy this ongoing situation.

I am aware that some roads and parking issues are being addressed here, but we need much more in order to provide proper amenities and infrastructure for tourists and residents alike.