A former opponent of Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire Member of Parliament, Angus MacDonald, has hit out at the LibDem after he spoke about his energy bills in London and in Highland.
Peter Newman, who ran as the Scottish Green Party candidate for the constituency and is now the organiser for the Sutherland branch of the SNP slammed the former businessman.
“I’m sure we would all like to thank Angus MacDonald MP for taking time out of his busy schedule to let us common folk know about his energy bills,” said Newman.
“He has effectively placed his comments in several news outlets and is quick to point out at the fact that, “most of the turbines are built and owned by foreign companies, offering little for the residents left to live alongside them.”
“Amazingly, I find myself in total agreement with him.
“I, for example, would love to know why Angus – who holds a sizeable share in a turbine building business, (imaginatively named, Renewable Parts) – is financing a company which has offices in Renfrew, Lochgilphead and Houston but nothing in either his constituency or in Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross where much of the development is taking place?
“Perhaps,” Newman continued, “he stands to profit handsomely and is merely having his cake and eating it at the voters’ expense?
“Of course, much of this could have been fixed if MacDonald had shelved his partisan blindness and got on board with his predecessor Drew Hendry’s Highland Energy Rebate Bill, now being piloted by Argyll and Bute MP, Brendan O’Hara.
“This bill was, incidentally, backed by MP Jamie Stone and his fellow Lib Dem Alistair Carmichael in a spirit of collegial, cross-party working during the last parliament before being roundly ignored by the Conservative government of the day.
“Likewise, Liam MacArthur MSP, a Liberal Democrat and spokesman for his party on energy for 14 years, was saying on 22nd January, at the Electricity Infrastructure Consenting Meeting of the Scottish Parliament, that, only two weeks earlier, 580mW had been left on the National Grid.”
Newman continued:
“MacArthur pointed out that some, “1920s infrastructure was still in use, that upgrades had not kept pace with the changing nature of energy generation demand.”
“So, MacDonald can’t bring himself to help out his SNP colleagues in Parliament to do what is right for his constituents and he doesn’t agree with his own party.
“Again, a list which includes LGBTQI rights, highly protected marine areas and, now, energy policy.
“And so, we are left with nothing but patronising populism, perpetrated by this cuckoo in the Lib Dem nest, contributing nothing but a garnish of guano on the reputation of a once ‘great’ party as their Tory take over continues – Angus is a LINO: Liberal in Name Only.”
Newman went on:
“We don’t need multimillionaire land owners telling us what we already know – (quite apart from anything else a man of such financial stature might have the grace to NOT re-claim them from the taxpayers.)
“What we need is further land reform.
“The new wind farms are not being built on public sector land.
“They are being built on ground, owned by landowners (433 of whom own 50% of privately owned rural land in Scotland), like Angus who, lest we forget, inherited most of Morvern peninsula and who would now stand to be paid very handsomely if he chose to host the turbines he both invests in and discusses.
“Have these landowners looked at the feasibility of burying the cables to allay the concerns of locals?
“Have the energy companies offered dynamic regional pricing to lower affected communities’ bills?
“Of course not, because that might cost money.
“So, thank you once again to Mr MacDonald for his comments- but you won’t be able to fix these energy issues without independence – and you certainly won’t be able to fix them without a lot less Angus MacDonalds playing the ends off against the middle and profiting off the people.”
