Caithness councillor resigns from independent group over SNP's anti-nuclear stance
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A Highland councillor from Caithness has resigned from the local authority's independent group – citing the SNP's opposition to nuclear power as his main reason for doing so.
Matthew Reiss, who has been an independent member of Highland Council since 2013 and was re-elected to the Thurso and Northwest Caithness ward this month, says he disagrees profoundly with local MSP Maree Todd's stance on Dounreay.
Ms Todd, the SNP MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, has said that Scotland must look to "safe, sustainable and cost-effective" renewable sources rather than nuclear for its future energy supply.
Following the May 5 elections, the SNP and independent groups have agreed to form a joint coalition administration. Their proposal will be put to a Highland Council meeting on Thursday for formal agreement.
The SNP's Raymond Bremner, who represents Wick and East Caithness, is tipped to become the new council leader.
Councillor Reiss said: “Any coalition, by definition, means compromise between different groups or parties.
“The SNP members obviously will not challenge or criticise the Scottish Government because they are loyal to the government – that's their party.
“For me really there are three red lines – but by far the most significant one is that I profoundly disagree with our local MSP's stance on Dounreay.
“Nuclear is the biggest employer in the county and I find it impossible to work in partnership or coalition with a party whose stated policies are anti-nuclear."
Councillor Reiss was speaking on Monday ahead of a meeting between Dounreay Stakeholder Group members and Ms Todd.
“There is nothing more basic in the county than employment and jobs, and this is the biggest employer,” he said.
“As an independent candidate I was elected to hopefully represent this area and, in terms of the constituents of this ward, Dounreay employs an enormous number – and we have an MSP and a government who are against nuclear.
“Even the German Greens are reconsidering their opposition to nuclear power.”
Councillor Reiss said the second of his "red lines" related to roads, and he recalled a meeting he had with Ms Todd in Thurso.
He explained: “I presented her with what were, to the best of my knowledge, the stark facts and figures about the sums of money required to repair the roads and she simply said that it was a matter for Highland Council. End of conversation.
“Technically I concede she is correct – it is a matter for Highland Council. But when a council is completely out of its depth with something, it should become a matter for government.
“The funding figures speak for themselves. The amount we receive per mile or kilometre is considerably less than so-called similar authorities like Moray and Angus.
“I accept the figures aren't going to be precise, but the scale of the gulf is so large that to just dismiss the pleas of myself, and Caithness Roads Recovery for that matter, that's a red line.
“The third one is also linked to the roads. Huge cuts in the rail timetable have come into effect this week which means the A9 is even more important than ever.
"And a clue as to where the far north lies in the Scottish Government's priorities is the simple fact that Transport Scotland has told me there are no costed plans to do any real or significant improvements to the A9 north of Tain for the next 20 years.”
He went on: “The coalition is dominated by the SNP in numerical terms. The leader of the council will almost certainly be the SNP leader.
"In plain English, it's not an equal administration – it's SNP-dominated.”
Addressing the viewpoint that national politics should be left to national politicians, Councillor Reiss said: "That is impossible. According to a colleague on Orkney Islands Council, Scotland is the most centralised country in Europe, so national policies – such as the nuclear policy – directly affect day-to-day politics.
"It's a nice aspiration. In principle it's fine – but in practice it just doesn't work."
Councillor Reiss's decision to stand down from the independent group comes five months after he resigned as vice-chairman of the corporate resources committee because of the "impossible" budget pressures facing the council, in particular a lack of money for local roads.
"It's not something I've done lightly because I've got a lot of friends in the independent group," he added.
In February, when there were calls in some quarters for a mini-reactor to be built in Caithness, Ms Todd declared that she could not support the idea. She pointed to the "high cost and high risk" associated with nuclear energy.
Ms Todd said at the time: “As an MSP representing a vast and rural Highland constituency, a constituency with the highest fuel poverty rates in the country, I cannot in all conscience support a nuclear fission solution as a cost-effective, safe energy source for our community and I believe the vast majority of the public back my position. We must focus on reliable energy sources that offer value for money and align with our net-zero ambitions.
“While I acknowledge the enthusiasm for nuclear power voiced by some sectors of this constituency, I do not share that enthusiasm.
“Scotland’s future energy supply must be safe, sustainable and cost-effective and deliver high-quality jobs."
