insincere over cheaper ferry fares

Sir,

When I read Alasdair Morrison suggesting that Alasdair Allan and Angus Macneil support his insincere idea for further ferry fare reductions, it indicates that he is struggling to find policies to support his candidacy.

Mr Morrison was so opposed to the likes of RET, he was extremely vocal about it, criticising it at every opportunity.

What has changed now ? Does he realise he was wrong and is now making atones for supporting cheaper fares for the Northern Isles while ignoring his own constituents when MSP. Maybe it is a ploy on his part to negate RET. As oil prices rise, will he be campaigning for dearer tickets.

Letter: Labour candidate “insincere” over cheaper ferry fares

19 January 2015

The price of oil affects most of our daily finances - why is he not pursuing cheaper bus fares, lower haulage costs, grocery bills etc. The price of oil has always fluctuated, yet he has never made any suggestions of this nature before. When fuel prices on these islands were way over the top he never acknowledged the problem.

Our former New Labour MSP shows a major lack of knowledge about business finances and economics. We all know that this drop in oil prices is temporary and as usual will fluctuate. This problem is not unlike the currency issues faced by organisations who trade in more than one country. They don't change their prices to reflect exchange rate variations, they set a pricing strategy for the forthcoming year and try to maintain it. There is no doubt that CalMac have done this for their fuel costs and when the oil prices are high they absorb the costs.

Like many others, I support cheaper travel costs to and from the islands. There are times when you have to be realistic and establish if the savings are practical. Knee jerk reactions are costly. By tying ferry fares to oil prices there will be a need for another tier of bureaucracy within CalMac to monitor it which will have to be paid for through ticket prices.

Has Alasdair Morrison given this proper thought ? If so, he will be able to tell us, if any, the potential savings for travellers. I look forward to reading about these detailed benefits.

It is difficult to take Mr Morrison seriously on this when you consider the reluctance he and his party have had in the past towards what New Labour would consider a universal benefit. New Labour have never supported the likes of RET in the past for the Hebrides and the Clyde. At the last Holyrood election they were forced to support RET for the Western Isles, but were opposed to rolling it out to other islands.

Archie Harper

27 Shulishader

Point

Isle of Lewis