News / Election 2011: Broadband, shortfalls and the Greens
THE LIBERAL Democrats have promised to convene a digital economy task force to connect every part of the county to superfast broadband if they become part of the new Scottish government.
The party’s Shetland candidate and Scottish leader Tavish Scott said the LibDems would invest £250 million to ensure no area was left behind in the digital revolution.
“I am determined that every part of Shetland should benefit from superfast broadband. Too many areas of the islands haven’t seen the advantages of new technology at home, in running a business or in other organisations,” Mr Scott said.
“After all, superfast broadband allows people to run businesses from anywhere in Shetland. New digital technology can really break down geographical barriers.
“In a new Scottish government, Liberal Democrat ministers will convene a High Level Digital Economy Task Force with leading businesses, academics and community groups.
“This will produce a delivery programme for the five year parliament aimed at areas like Shetland that are being held back. I want to ensure that new investment can help the work of Shetland Telecom, with the links being developed using the fibre optic cable via Faroe being used to deliver better services for local people.”
Referring to research carried out by the Centre for Public Policy for Regions, based at Glasgow University, independent candidate Billy Fox warned that other parties’ election promises could not be financed.
He said the shortfall for the SNP was almost £1 billion, that of the LibDems was £310 million, and the Tory were also over budget, albeit by just £84 million. According to the CPPR, only Labour was able to live within its means.
Mr Fox said: “Black holes in financing need filling, what needs careful examination is just where attempts to plug these gaps may come from!
“A worrying possibility was voiced at the LibDem conference in Perth this year. In a webcast interview for the BBC, party leader Tavish Scott suggested one saving could be made by cutting free bus travel for the over 60s.
“This met with a bad press and outcry from pensioners’ groups, and not surprisingly has never been mentioned since. The question is – does Mr Scott’s proposal still figure in the LibDem agenda? Such a move would be regressive and unacceptable!”
Meanwhile the Scottish Greens, who have not been fielding a Shetland candidate, are campaigning for people’s second vote to get a list MSP into Parliament.
The party’s top candidate on the Highland and Islands list, Eleanor Scott, said on Monday that she was “unfortunately” not able to come to Shetland during the remaining ten days before the 5 May election.
She said: “We are highlighting three issues as our priorities. First, we are absolutely opposed to tuition fees. We think higher education benefits all of society and not just the students.
“Secondly, we believe in protecting public services by a fairer system of taxation. We are proposing to get rid of the council tax and business rates and replace it with a land value tax. We believe that this would leave all small businesses and householders in bands A to E better off, and the only people who would pay more are those who can afford to pay more.
“The third point is our programme for insulating all Scottish homes to a high standard which would tackle fuel poverty, climate change and provide jobs as well.”
Referring to the proposed Viking Energy wind farm, she added: “We are supporting renewable energy but we are unconvinced yet as to whether the Viking wind farm is the way to go.
“We do however think there should be an interconnector between Shetland and mainland Scotland because Shetland should be able to benefit from its huge wind resource as it would be a great place for lots of wind farms.”
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