Speeches by MacDonald.

“Thank you. I have a slightly different question for each of you, but on the same thing. If I could start with you, Councillor Robinson. Looking at the age of your ferries, I understand that a replacement life for a ferry is approximately 25 years, and yet I see that five of yours are 40 years plus, and the youngest is …”

“The Corran ferry from Fort William to Ardnamurchan is being replaced at the moment. A single ferry and two new harbours is £58 million. The cost of tunnelling it was not very much more, and would not have had the cost of replacing the ferry, looking after it, maintaining it and all that. Yet we still opted for the ferr…”

“Thank you. Councillor Steele, can I ask you: we know about the replacement ferries coming from Poland, Turkey, Sanok, and so on. Do you think we now have a ferry replacement programme that will resolve the issue for the next 25 years?”

“I had a meeting with a very informed person who asked me not to mention their name in this. They said there needs to be a 25-year view, a new ferry every year, and it should be a single organisation between CMA and CalMac and legislation be passed to preserve this through the governance in the Scottish Government. Do y…”

“Mr Robinson, when we were in the Faroes, we saw how much they were investing and borrowing in order to build their tunnels. When we were reading about investment required, we saw how, due to a very clever move by Shetland Island Council 30 years ago, you basically received a percentage of the revenue coming from oil. I…”

“On the basis that they take, say, three years to replace, if you are lucky, there will be a stage where you are going to have to call an island emergency or something like that. Are you taking steps to preparing the population for the fact that they cannot move between the islands and the Scottish Government that they …”

“Mr Sloan, can I ask about financing and financing models? When we were in the Faroe Islands, the roads were tolled and visitors paid three times the price of locals. Should the business model include tolling, or would that be politically unacceptable?”

“I am sure you would agree that it is also not just a Western Isles problem because it impacts Oban, Ullapool, Uig and so on. It is a Scottish national issue; it is not an islands issue.”

“To support the hon. Gentleman’s argument about the price of electricity, renewable energy is largely generated in Scotland, north Wales and south-west England. We have the highest level of fuel poverty, we have no mains gas, and the suffering caused to those rural areas is remarkable. Until that is improved, we are not…”

“If the Minister will allow me, I will make more of an intervention than a speech. The Liberal Democrats very much welcome the £150—thank you very much—but I suspect that that figure was worked out on the basis of the average UK energy costs of approximately £1,750. In sunny Inverclyde, where people are wandering around…”

“I do not think they reach into the West Highlands.”

“Yes. Sorry, Neil, would you like to chip in?”

“Thank you. If all three of you could reply to this. We have a major problem in remote Scotland with basically a declining population, particularly of the young. I am the MP for, among other places, Skye and Wester Ross. Skye high school was built for 1,000 and there are only 500 children in it. That is the same up and …”

“People say that it is compulsory in other countries to share masts, and we do not share masts in the same way in the UK.”

“The bottom line is you are all waiting for BT Openreach to do it?”

“I think it is only BT Openreach, as far as I am aware. Okay, thank you.”

“Why would you do it if there is already, for example, a spare BT cable?”

“In terms of supplying our constituents, do you think we should regulate to enforce the sharing of masts? I don’t care as much about competition; I care about availability.”

“You are also looking at other operational changes. Presumably there is an opportunity, for example, to offer 6G to the islands or whatever it is. Are you doing anything on your masts or any other major operational changes for Shetland?”

“Who do my constituents get in touch with to find out what they can do to get decent connectivity? I am obviously not important enough to get decent connectivity. I honestly mean that. We do not have superfast broadband at home. We do not have 4G or 5G, and nobody will take my calls or direct me. What happens if you are…”