Ruth Davidson was right about getting on with the day job
J PATRICK Maclean’s letter (July 16) on the Mull ferry situation was, in my opinion, yet another example of a very sound argument that will be ignored by our present Government in Holyrood and CMAL. To me, this is a very worrying example of the failures of this SNP administration.
In your Letters pages, my own correspondence and those from better and more experienced contributors appear to be ignored. I know that you have published comments from CMAL executives, but these never seem to address the crisis that now exists. Even Nicola Sturgeon’s statement that “they” are looking at sourcing another vessel for the Ulla pools tor noway service is treated as encouraging, but she does not get reported as saying that instead of looking for a vessel, one has been found and that it will be in service from a particular date.
As Mr Maclean says, the Pentalina catamaran was available and its suitability was endorsed by a retired Calmac master and another vessel may still be available from the builder in Indonesia, but no-one from the Government said that a decision had been made one way or another. The input from other agencies such as the RMT union also raises questions: is this organisation interested in servicing the communities or only its members with crew accommodation requirements, as has been reported elsewhere? There surely is a balance somewhere.
I remember that P&O ran a night-time service to Larne, from the “Irish berth” at Ardrossan until it was relocated to the new berth at Troon. This berth was created to accommodate the now-terminated catamaran service to Larne. From this it can be reckoned that the shore-based infrastructure is there to deal with Arran, Campbeltown and the southern Hebrides, ie Islay and Colonsay.
Therefore, with all of the written frustration, why is there the impression that our Government is not grasping the nettle and telling us what it is actually doing, rather that what it is looking into doing? The same applies to many other remits that are part of the devolved government responsibilities.
I was never a fan of Ruth Davidson, or Jackson Carlaw, but perhaps their constant advice to Nicola Sturgeon that she and her Government should “get on with the day job” was, and still is, the matter that should be front and centre. Maybe if the SNP administration shows that it is an efficient manager of devolution further powers might well come in time. At present there is further funding coming from Westminster via the Scotland Office. What if Alister Jack seizes the opportunity to resolve the ferry issue with Westminster backing? The need for Holyrood then comes into question.
Ian Gray, Croftamie.