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Lessons have to be learnt from Sunday sailings debate 16/7/09
Sirs,
I read with interest John Macleod’s announcement that he will be supporting Cllr. Donald John Macsween, and campaigning for him through the next election.
The good message in that announcement is indeed the recognition of a man who has shown the integrity to declare where he stands on a hot issue and stick with it to the end, and the same must be said of John Macleod, whether or not you agree with him or like his style.
I can, however, confirm that the length of his letters on this news site over the past few weeks were not the reason behind the local broadband speed issue.
There are of course lessons to be learnt from the Sunday sailings debate. One of the more important ones, surely, is that on issues that will have a direct, serious and long lasting impact on the community, our elected bodies must engage more fully with their electorate post election and hold a referendum on such important personal issues and not assume they have an automatic mandate.
In my very first letter to this news site I wrote:
We hopefully all vote for the persons whom we feel will do the best job for the community as a whole, and not just on what their views are on any specific hot topic.
I know I have voted for individuals who have the opposite view to me on Sunday ferries, golf and sports, and I know I wasn’t giving them any mandate to stop me travelling on a Sunday or stop me playing golf on a Sunday.
I voted for them because on all the other issues relevant to the position, I felt they were the better candidates.
MPs, MSPs, Councillors, Trustees, prospective candidates are all to be applauded for working for their communities, however, we may not end up with the best individuals elected if we choose them purely on the one hot topic!
Our SNP candidates almost certainly were elected due to their stance, perceived or
otherwise, on the Lewis Windfarm proposals. I would suggest that they would not have
been elected had the electorate believed that they would have been given a direct
say on the issue should Alasdair Morrison have been re-
Like so many I would not object to a community sized wind project which could be
scaled so as not to wreck the Island’s natural heritage or its growing tourism industry,
and could co-
I have in the past voted SNP and generally feel our Holyrood government is not doing a bad job. How are our local MP and MSP serving the Western Isles? Not so sure. Angus McCormack’s letter “Macneil misses the point” highlights to me that whilst the “Task Force” is trying to work as a unit outwith party politics, very focussed on the job at hand, Mr Macneil appears not to be doing so.
I voted SNP in the recent Euro Elections. Why? Because I received 2 leaflets through the door (SNP and UKIP), so I did not have much to go on. I will vote on manifestos which firstly I receive and secondly inform me what the candidate proposes to do for the community or country I live in.
Will I vote for a Western Isles SNP candidate next time? Very questionable if not improbable but I would urge the Chairman and all others involved in the local Labour campaign to make clear commitments and refrain, if at all possible, from slating the opposition at the expense of policy.
To be blunt – Inform us what your candidate will do for the community and not tell us the opposition candidates are …. “selfish, petty, obsession” …. “should grow up” …… “Bannockburn , Culloden” .. …..
If you do, CIM, you should have little to worry about come the election.
David Gilmour
Smith Avenue
Stornoway
Letters should include name and full address for publication. Please include a phone number for verification.