COMMENT: RMT meeting on Northlink services
Following the announcement that the RMT trade union will be holding a meeting in Kirkwall on the potential nationalisation of the Northlink ferry service, Jamie Halcro Johnston MSP has circulated a comment on no Scottish Conservative representatives being invited.
The Scottish Government will make a decision on re-tendering of the Northern Isles Ferry Services contract in the spring.
Jamie Halcro Johnston said—
“It’s extremely disappointing that the RMT appears to have chosen to exclude Scotland’s main opposition party by failing to invite any representatives from the Scottish Conservatives to this closed-doors meeting. I’ve certainly not been invited to attend and, as far as I’m aware, neither have my two Highlands and Islands Conservative colleagues Edward Mountain and Donald Cameron, nor our Shadow Transport Minister.
“Having been extremely vocal - both personally and as a party - on the importance of ferry links both to and from, and within, the Northern Isles, I find it hard to believe that this is a simple oversight on the RMT’s part.
“Had I been able to attend, I would have made clear our position - that is that Orkney and Shetland need a reliable operator which meets the needs of the people and businesses of the Northern Isles, and not one which meets the needs of the SNP Government in Edinburgh”.