EDWARD MOUNTAIN: Serious battle being stored up over energy in far north
Holyrood Notebook by Edward Mountain
Highlanders are usually the first in the UK to experience the annual reminder of winter’s onset.
It was no different this year as snow and sub-zero temperatures occurred in parts of the region despite us still being in early autumn.
But last week’s change in conditions was a harbinger for something far more severe: a reminder of how policy decisions will make winter for so many people in the area so much more difficult.
Labour’s crass decision to slash winter fuel payments will have an impact all over the UK.
However, it should have been obvious to Sir Keir Starmer and his now many Scottish Labour colleagues that the effect will get considerably worse the further north you go.
And so it is proved in the statistics I obtained from the Scottish Parliament’s own information centre.
According to the Scottish census, there are 17,082 pensioners in Caithness, Sutherland and Ross. Of those, 14,999 will lose that hard-earned benefit.
That, as a proportion, is 87.8 per cent, which is far higher than the Scotland-wide average of 82.6 per cent.
So pensioners across this area are fighting on two fronts – they are more likely to lose the allowance, and the consequences of that will be more severe by dint of geography.
The Scottish Government could step in to stop this, but so far has only offered pathetic imitation.
It claims it has no choice but to follow suit, but it is a political decision and correction requires political will, something it clearly seems to lack on this occasion.
The issue of winter payments and fuel poverty isn’t unique to the Highlands, but it is more pertinent.
All across the area we see applications going in for onshore wind farms, on top of the prospect of extensive land infrastructure to support the bonanza which is currently happening offshore.
This is in response to policy decisions set first by the Scottish Government, and now being mirrored by the UK government.
We understand energy security is paramount, and that such security cannot be delivered without there being at least some impact on our surroundings.
But there is an increasing feeling that the Highland area is more than pulling its weight when it comes to providing the power, yet is arguably receiving the least of all benefit.
It’s acutely unfair, and both the Scottish and UK governments will only store up a serious battle with people and businesses in this part of the world if they don’t address it.
It’s all very well asking the energy companies behind these plans to do more, but ultimately it’s down to the decision-makers to stand up and ensure everyone’s interests are best served.
In simple terms, it just cannot be fair that pensioners in the Highlands are discriminated against to this extent, while living in a part of the world which is so attractive to the very developers handsomely profiting by supplying their energy.
A political colleague reminded me this week that the axing of winter payments is something government officials regularly suggest as a quick and easy way to save money.
Until now, wiser politicians have rejected it, knowing such a move would be unreasonable and unpalatable.
As winter begins to bare its teeth, we can only hope today’s governments – both sides of the border – reach the same conclusion.
• Edward Mountain is a Scottish Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands.
