Scottish Liberal Democrat representatives of Orkney and Shetland in Holyrood and Westminster have today asked dog-owners to take extra care while walking their pets during lambing season and calving season.
Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has raised frustrations with repeated failures by energy companies to deliver large amounts to people entitled to “feed-in tariff” payments for producing renewable energy.
Responding to news that Humza Yousaf has been elected as the new leader of the SNP, Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael said:
Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has this week highlighted the challenges of the “energy trilemma” – balancing energy affordability, security of supply and decarbonisation – in a speech in Parliament.
Responding to the 20th anniversary this week, Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael has reflected on the legacy of the war and the reaction from people in the isles at the time.
Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has today pressed ministers for a renewed debate on the operation of the Alternative Fuel Payment, citing the “utterly random” delivery of funds to people in the isles. Mr Carmichael noted responses from constituents to his online survey, which found close to a 50-50 split between people using electric heating (which in theory is not eligible for the AFP) who had or had not received the payment. Mr Carmichael previously secured a commitment from ministers not to “claw back” wrongly delivered payments for those on electric heating.
Responding to the Spring Budget today, Northern Isles MP Alistair Carmichael has criticised the “skewed” priorities of the Conservatives in pushing major tax breaks for the wealthy and major businesses while refusing to expand energy bills support and hitting families and small businesses with further taxes.
Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has today called on the government to reverse its “questionable” decision to exclude distillers from the successor energy bills discount scheme coming in next month, ahead of this week’s Budget. Writing in PoliticsHome today, Mr Carmichael highlighted the “linchpin” role many distillers play in providing quality jobs and tourism interest in communities in the Highlands and Islands, including in the Northern Isles. He further noted that beer brewers and winemakers are to be included in the provisional criteria, despite being far less energy-intensive industries than distilling.
Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has called for a better strategy from the government on brain tumour research funding in a debate in Parliament. Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, Mr Carmichael highlighted the progress made in recent years in delivering ringfenced funding for research, but warned that structural problems were still standing in the way. The MP also highlighted the wider need for more openness in talking about brain tumours amongst friends and family.
Two years ago, I launched a consultation on proposals for a bill to allow terminally ill adults with mental capacity in Scotland the choice of an assisted death.
Orkney MSP Liam McArthur has called on the Scottish Government to commit to the necessary action to protect rural access to justice, as new Sheriffs Principal guidance extends the use of ‘virtual custody’ courts.
Scottish Liberal Democrat and Shetland MSP, Beatrice Wishart has, in a Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands question session, called for a date for the Scottish Government to meet with Shetland Islands Council to discuss short subsea tunnels.
Orkney MSP Liam McArthur today praised those who have worked towards the establishment of Scotland’s first “Bairns’ Hoose” for young victims and witnesses of crimes, and called for work to be done to bring the principles behind it to island settings.
Orkney’s MSP Liam McArthur has joined the campaign to save the beloved Screen Machine, a mobile cinema that has proved hugely popular during visits to Orkney and around the Highlands & Islands over the past 25 years.
During its construction, the Scottish Parliament building attracted more than its fair share of criticism. For all the delays and cost overruns, however, thankfully the project never resorted to using ‘flaky concrete’.
Orkney’s MSP Liam McArthur today told Scottish Ministers that their agenda of equality was being undermined by the divide between different parts of the country, and demanded a “commitment to painstaking delivery” to meet islanders’ needs.
Orkney MSP Liam McArthur has signed an open letter to Scottish ministers calling for a pause to short-term lets legislation, joining 37 MSPs from across the parties.
Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has today noted Ofgem’s announcement of a cut to the energy price cap, and called for the regulator to begin looking at geographically differentiated tariffs.