Ferry shambles

A slump in trade - due to the disruption of ferry services - hitting Lewis businesses is the fault of the SNP Scottish Government, Western Isles Labour candidate Alasdair Morrison said.

Mr Morrison said that tourism firms face "significant loss of bookings" as visitors find they cannot drive to Ullapool and cross to Stornoway.

The ferry route is disrupted until 18 May while a new linkspan is being installed at Ullapool. Cars and lorries are being diverted via the MV Isle of Lewis between Stornoway and Skye.

SNP deserve to pay "political price" for ferries shambles, says Morrison

4 May 2015

Mr Morrison suggested there had been only "handfuls" of foot passengers on some of the non-vehicle crossings operated by the MV Loch Seaforth.

The political hopeful said the SNP deserved to pay "a political price for the shambles that they bear responsibility for creating."

He said it was "inconceivable that Stornoway would have suffered the current chaos and loss of trade if it had not been for the centralised control insisted on by the Scottish Government and the exclusion of islanders from the oversight of ferry services.”

He added: "This is a classic example of what happens when politicians serve only their party and not their constituents. As this unnecessary fiasco has unfolded, there has been nobody to fight our corner, nobody to challenge ministerial authority or the blundering incompetence of the quangos they appoint."

Mr Morrison said Stornoway was already facing shop closures due to economic conditions and the ferry situation had slashed around one-third of retail turnovers during a key part of the season.

"Previous years have seen buoyant visitor numbers between Easter and the peak summer season, but this year has seen a sharp downturn entirely due to the ferry chaos”, he maintained.

"We have seen and heard absolutely nothing from the local MSP yet CMAL, the quango which has created this situation, is entirely a creature of the Scottish Government. Its membership is totally anonymous and the Danish industrialist appointed by the SNP to chair it is unknown in the communities which are suffering at its hands."

He pledged that Labour would ensure the inclusion of islanders on relevant public bodies, as it had done in the past, suggesting the SNP applied a "veto" on islanders being appointed to the CalMac and CMAL boards.