A fine kettle of fish

With some fishermen enduring three weeks of no income and a further eight weeks until the current ban on fishing in the Clyde Recovery Box comes to an end, it was fantastic to see that Argyll and Bute MSP Jenni Minto has lobbied the minister for rural affairs Mairi Gougeon to get financial assistance to help the fishers through this difficult time.

Not surprisingly, the Scottish Government has still refused any assistance.

At a meeting of the Rural Affairs, Island and Natural Environment Committee on Wednesday March 9 a vote was taken on whether to annul the ban on fishing in the recovery box.

Sadly the MSP for Argyll and Bute decided to look after her own pay packet and political career, and tow the line with her Nationalist colleagues to support the ban on fishing in the area. This caused fellow committee member Scottish Conservative Rachel Hamilton to suggest backbenchers, with reference to Ms Minto, are ‘spineless’.

Having deserted the local fishermen, their families and supporting businesses, Ms Minto has shown yet another example of Nationalist MSPs being afraid to rock the boat in Holyrood.

Kenny Campbell, Dalintober.