In the build up to the UK General Election on the 4th of July, fios has spoken individually to a number of candidates for the Western Isles, and discussed five key topics with them — Renewable Energy; Peats and Peatland; Transport; Affordable Housing and International Politics.
The Independent Candidate — Angus Brendan MacNeil
By Netty Sopata fios 659
Angus Brendan MacNeil has been elected five times as the MP for Na H-Eileanan An Iar. On each previous occasion, he has represented the SNP. This year however, he is standing as an independent candidate having left the SNP in July 2023 and remaining in post as an independent MP since then. The hows, whys and whens of this have been documented in detail in the national press — this article, however, is not about the past, it is about addressing some of the key issues the Western Isles and Scotland are and will be having to navigate in the future, and how Angus Brendan MacNeil believes they should be approached.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
When Angus and some of his team called in to the fios office last week, we started with the topic of renewable energy, and in particular his thoughts in relation to the planned interconnector, the proposed off-shore wind farm developments and the communities reaction to these proposals. Angus commented: “The problem we’ve really got for a lot of people now, is the siting of some of the blocks. And I think the siting of the N4 block in particular. Maybe not so much here for people, but certainly for people south of Barvas in particular, and that N4 block, we should look at moving that, and we’ve started tentative enquiries as to moving the N4 block so that people are happier…… You can’t please all of the people, all of the time is a truism, but if you’re upsetting most of the people most of the time then you’ve got to do something about it.” So how, I asked, would that work in a practical sense getting a site moved if a company already has rights to it? “Well, I think you would just have to get the rights to another part of the sea bed,” Angus responded and continued; “and they’d have to survey it again. But it’s a lot easier to move now, rather than when you’ve got a big physical infrastructure…I think if you’re enforcing things on people that they don’t want, then you’ve definitely got a problem…we should at the very least, investigate that to people’s heart’s content at this point.”
PEATS AND PEATLAND
The discussion then moved on to peats and peatland, particularly in relation to peat cutting and the recent Scottish Government policy surrounding solid fuel stoves being installed in new build housing. How, I wanted to know, can peat cutting be protected in the future, how can it be balanced alongside sustainable energy development? “Well peat has sustainably been harvested here for generations and…..the amount of peats being used by people in domestic consumption will not be huge. One of the cheapest forms of energy you can get, if you discount your own labour, is people cutting peat, so people are going to do that, or want to do that….I think it’s just an urban agenda driven by the urban Green Party who don’t understand rural life….I didn’t hesitate to say that was a daft policy at the time. And it looks like it was in reversal, but it was certainly sending the wrong signal to many people”
TRANSPORT
The transport infrastructure, there is no way around it, is a huge issue for the Western Isles, but how, I wanted to know, did he see it being improved in the future?
“Transport has been an issue for nineteen years…. Now, firstly our airline is privately run with a big government subsidy of an air discount scheme of 50%. And the airline makes its own profit … .It’s an airline that sometimes lets us down. We’ve got issues connected to Brexit because we don’t have the EGNOS navigation system….which then affects some flights landing in mist to Hebridean airports, and a company that you want to be keener on delivery of service. We don’t live as the faroese do with an airline based on their islands. We live with airlines based elsewhere, a management and a staff and a headquarters based essentially elsewhere – bar some local employees at the local airport. So that’s not the ideal way for us to be proceeding but that’s the situation that we have. And for that, surely ending Brexit would help….Independence would definitely help because rather than seeing our demographics go down in Scotland as opposed to independent countries around us, we see them going up – when you’ve got a growing population you tend to have better services because you can fill more of your planes and that also affects your ferries as well.” And in relation to ferries: “Nineteen years ago we had ferries with car decks not full. We reduced the pricing through the RTE and have now become a victim of the success that we’ve had because the ferries have now become too full…..There are a number of things you can do in the meantime for that – You could stagger the booking windows so that the different type of travellers all have a chance of getting on….the other thing we’ve got to seriously look at are tunnels……the price of the ferries that have not been built on the clyde yet, with £420M we could tunnel….the Sound of Harris, the Sound of Barra and you could probably have a tunnel to Skye if you wanted it too…..I think we have to be open to the discussion of all the possibilities. Now some people might say it will change the island character if you have a tunnel…. but I say well – television has changed island character, internet has changed island character, roll on roll off ferries have changed island character – one of your island characters could unfortunately be the missing of hospital appointments because of the transport links, do we want to retain that sort of island character when people’s health and perhaps life expectancy can be affected? So we need a serious conversation about where we’re going on transport.”
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
The ferries have indeed become busier and the increase in tourism, although good for the economy, also has an effect on the property values. Being able to afford to live in the places that people aspire to visit is a huge issue across the Western Isles. How, I wanted to know could the situation be improved upon to reduce depopulation and increase affordable housing? Angus responded: “Well look out the window. Firstly, we’ve got loads of land……which is a fortunate thing, so we can build on that. But unless you’ve got the opportunities and the control of your economy to make people come here, and for things to actively happen, you’re not going to get things changed and this is why I’m for independence …if you don’t have control you’re going to be forever in the situation that we are in.”
INDEPENDENCE
The question of independence for Scotland is key to the MacNeil campaign, but I was keen to understand how, having spilt from the SNP, an independent candidate would be able to push for a second referendum and influence that area of politics. Angus responded: “To get independence and a referendum I think we’re going to have to be very aware that no UK government is going to give a referendum when Scotland is likely to vote for independence … .What being an MP does is give you a platform to make the different arguments. It gives you a platform to firstly stand up to the…. Government and not be whipped by them …There’s one way only only for the Scottish Government and for anybody at this stage to have a decision on independence, and that’s by calling an unscheduled Holyrood election and the SNP can do that, and have a one line manifesto which would replicate what a referendum would do.”
So, I wanted to know, in relation to voters that are sitting there at the moment and perhaps were pro – independence in the past but are now reconsidering everything. What would he say to them? Especially in the context of Brexit, Covid, and a war in Europe?
“Well I’d say to them first of all, that the war in Ukraine is the war about the maintenance of independence for Ukraine and not to put Ukraine back into a big union where Ukraine was…. And where small countries succeed is when they pull sovereignty in trade blocks and in defensive unions.”
INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
There are of course, other international issues that have and will continue to have an impact on Scotland and the Western Isles. Gaza and of course the U.S Elections and, the impending possibility of Donald Trump returning to the White House. Angus provided the following statements on these areas: “The situation in Gaza is nothing short of daily massacre and a genocide. The best thing to do is to stop killing people which is the call of well meaning decent charities and good people everywhere. I support efforts of International Criminal Court who want the leaders of Hamas and Israel for their part in killing people in Gaza. I wrote to Labour leader Keir Starmer asking him to support a ceasefire, he did not reply.” And in relation to the U.S; “Donald Trump – politician – that is a bad idea”
This series of interviews have been coordinated as part of The Scottish beacon’s Citizen’s Agenda Project: The Scottish Beacon — Community Empowerment
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The EGNOS is the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service: https://www.esa.int/Applications/Satellite_navigation/EGNOS/What_is_ EGNOS
fios coverage in relation to the N4 Spiorad na Mara potential off-shore wind farm development can be sourced here: