Letters require the writer’s full name and full address before publication. Please
send your letter in the body of an e-
Comhairle’s 'slash and burn' budget 18/2/13
Sir,
I was greatly disappointed to read that the Comhairle had decided to carry on with their 'slash and burn' budget proposals, in the face of huge public opposition and despite being presented by the SNP group with an fully costed alternative budget which would have avoided the worst of their planned cuts. I was particularly saddened to see that so many of those cuts were aimed at the most vulnerable in our community.
This should not have come as such a surprise when Labour's deputy leader in Scotland, Anas Sarwar, is reported as saying that there is no point in funding free care for the elderly when half of the people in the poorest parts of Scotland do not live long enough to take advantage of it.
This shockingly callous and cynical attitude to the elderly shows how out of touch Labour has become, and goes some way to explain the budget decisions made by the majority of our councillors, including the small number of Labour councillors who stand under the party banner, and the much larger group who prefer to be seen as independents.
The decision to axe the Barra to Benbecula air route, and restrict the Stornoway to Benbecula route, which was endorsed by all but one of the Southern Isles councillors, was a shocking example of their disregard for their constituents. Those councillors will now need to explain their dreadful decision to their communities, especially to those who rely on the flights to visit the hospital in Stornoway.
This policy will be particularly damaging to the islands as the money to run these services is provided to the Comhairle by the Scottish government. For the administration to pocket the cash, while closing and reducing the services, will endanger all of our other subsidised transport services and make it more difficult to argue for those to be extended or even continued.
It is time those councillors who conceived and voted for this awful budget considered the effects of their decisions on the most vulnerable islanders, and particularly how they will hurt the elderly who make up such a large part of our community.
Dr D C Wilson
12b Tolsta Chaolais
Isle of Lewis