JAMIE STONE: Leadership talk could present opportunities for far north
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Jamie's Journal by Jamie Stone
It looks as if Rishi has sorted out the Northern Ireland Protocol problem. The Ulster Unionists ain't too chuffed – and nor, they say, is Boris Johnson, who still dreams of going back to Number 10.
But Rishi did it all the same. Credit where it's due, this is some achievement given that most people thought it was too complicated to sort.
It is this sudden change of policy that gives me pause for thought. As the SNP leadership battle intensifies, we are suddenly seeing a flurry of policies being hastily chucked out the window.
Kate Forbes has announced that, if she becomes the First Minister, the gender reforms will no longer be a priority.
Casting her eyes north, she has also said that improvements to the A9 will now be at the top of the agenda, as opposed to being a big "pretend" – which is what it has been since 2007.
Well, well, changed days. I wonder what Nicola is saying about her legacy being so hastily put out for the scaffie cart.
Goodness me, what is this now floating past my window? Oh, it's the Deposit Return Scheme! Another piece of legislation that Kate says she will scrap. They are coming thick and fast now.
Now then, who is this dark figure I see lumbering back over the horizon? It's one of the other leadership hopefuls, Ash Regan, who says she will have Alex Salmond back in the party if she is elected First minster.
I wonder what kind of message this sends out? Hopefully not a lot – because the bookies are not putting their money on Ash.
All I have written could thus far be seen as a mere commentary on things happening in another party, but when I think about it, this might present another opportunity for all of us in the far north.
Hither to, until Nicola called it a day, there have been two Scottish Government policies that trouble me.
The first is the presumption that they will not permit a small modular reactor (SMR) to be constructed at Dounreay. Despite the enthusiasm of people in the far north for this possible development, it did seem that official policy in Edinburgh would stand in its way.
The second issue which troubles us all is the vote for the new proposal to ban advertising of Scotland's most famous export – namely, whisky. By definition, many distilleries provide vital jobs in some of the remoter areas of Scotland. In a time when jobs do not grow on trees, the importance of this employment should never be underestimated.
My final thought is this... just as some of the proposed changes in direction advocated for leadership candidates have either been jettisoned or kicked into the long grass, so it shouldn't be impossible for a leadership candidate to think again on both the whisky policy and the future of Dounreay.
If Nicola Sturgeon's departure means a new climate of free thinking, then I hope that both these policies will be looked at afresh.
- Jamie Stone is the Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.
