Sunday 29^th April 2012

Within a few days all the candidates will know their fate.  I’ve been involved behind the scenes in 7 national election counts and that’s nerve wracking enough let alone attending one where you are actually a candidate yourself!

It’s been a very busy three weeks and I still have a place or two to revisit and a few people to see who weren’t in when I first called.

Shetland West hustings was held in the Whiteness & Weisdale hall last Wednesday night and attracted a pretty good turn out from all over the West Side.  The candidates each had five minutes to address the public and a question and answers session followed.  A number of topics were brought up including education, transport, wind farms, care of the elderly, spending cuts and supporting the economy, to mention a few, and I’d like to thank the public and other candidates for the polite and courteous way they conducted themselves.

As some of you may have seen, I expressed my concern in the letters pages of the Shetland Times and Shetland News websites last Friday about the calling of yet another meeting of the Charitable Trust to discuss and decide on whether or not to grant Viking Energy a further £6.3M to progress the wind farm.  I wrote last Friday morning:

“I read with much concern that yet another Charitable Trust meeting has been arranged for next Monday, I presume, to force through £6.3 million for Viking Energy.

I was hoping that the trustees, who seem so hell bent on railroading this money through, would have listened to the arguments put forward by councillor Grains at the last meeting and left this decision to a new set of trustees.

This is exactly the kind of behaviour that has brought discredit to the outgoing council and has completely eroded the Shetland people’s confidence in our ability to manage our own affairs properly and democratically.

I do hope that sense prevails and that trustees see this as a desperate act by a few trustees who seem afraid to let a new trust make this decision”.

It has since emerged that seven trustees demanded this meeting take place in what I consider to be an arrogant, disrespectful and undemocratic attempt to force through a decision which, in a few days, a completely new set of trustees will have to follow through.  Conduct like this has antagonised many more people in Shetland.  What a spectacular own goal! What have they learned from past mistakes, nothing it would appear? I hope the seven trustees are ashamed of their behaviour.

Worse still, OSCR intervened and directed that the meeting could not go ahead as it thought existing trustees should not be thrusting any decision on a set of new trustees at this late hour; a sensible decision which our own trustees and officials should have reached themselves.  Again, trustees and officials have brought not only themselves into disrepute but have once again dragged Shetland’s previous good name into the gutter by having to bear the indignity of an outside body making decisions on our behalf.  

I know it has nothing to do with our own campaign out west but I was concerned to see a high profile candidate make a very personal attack in the press on an equally well-know candidate. To the latter’s credit he responded in a reasonably conciliatory fashion.  If this is the tone before the election, I fear what it’s going to be like if both are elected to the chamber.  A great deal has been written by all candidates over the last weeks about the ability to work together for the good of Shetland.  I see little sign of it from this pair.

On a lighter note, I took a break from campaigning on Saturday and, as usual, joined my family, friends and neighbours in Wormadale for Da Voar Redd Up at the head of Whiteness Voe.  This Shetland institution seems to go from strength to strength and what a pleasure it is to drive down to the head of the voe and see no litter or plastic on the beach.  This common-sense and hard-working approach truly demonstrates how people can work together for the good of Shetland and prospective politicians should take heed.

Again, I’d like to thank the people of Shetland West for the politeness, kindness and encouragement shown to me.  As a new candidate I could not have asked for more.

Lastly, whatever your persuasion, please take time and make the effort to cast your vote and make Shetland West the highest poll next Thursday.