LOCAL CHAMPION FOR ORKNEY AND SHETLAND HAILS FERRIES DECISION

LOCAL CHAMPION FOR ORKNEY AND SHETLAND HAILS FERRIES DECISION

John Mowat, the SNP’s Westminster candidate for the Orkney and Shetland
constituency, has welcomed the Scottish Government’s decision to postpone
efficiency measures proposed for the NorthLink ferry services to the
islands.

The Scottish Government has announced that it will work with the ferry
company to find alternative ways of making necessary savings in its
expenditure this year, a move for which Mr Mowat had campaigned in his
capacity as the SNP's local champion for Orkney and Shetland.

Mr Mowat said today:

“I am very pleased that the Scottish Government has responded so
positively to the consultations it has held with communities in Orkney and
Shetland on this issue. It proves once again that the SNP is a genuinely
listening government, which takes consultation seriously and does not just
treat it as lip service.

“It is right that NorthLink should make its contribution to addressing the
public spending challenges facing us just now, but I have argued strongly
that the company should be allowed to explore a range of ways of achieving
savings, in order to protect the vital lifeline service that the ferries
represent for the island communities.

“I am delighted that the SNP government has agreed with me and others who
made this case.

“As the SNP candidate in this election, I have pledged to be a local
champion on behalf the people of Orkney and Shetland. I did that on
ferries, and I’ll continue to champion the needs of these these islands.”