Wick town centre funding is a welcome boost for High Street
Holyrood Notebook by Rhoda Grant
Some of you will have read of my decision to stand down as your regional MSP at the 2026 elections. I have loved representing the Highlands and Islands in the Scottish Parliament, but I believe it is now time to hand the baton on to a new generation.
The role is very rewarding in many ways but also challenging and deserves to be filled by someone who can give the time and commitment to meeting those demands.
It is for this reason I was so pleased to see the local constituency Labour Party select Eva Kestner to run in Caithness, Sutherland, and Ross.
What I wasn’t pleased about was the reaction of the SNP’s Maree Todd and that party’s mouthpiece, the National newspaper. The comments and behaviour of both were so disappointing and especially at a time when it is difficult to persuade good people to enter politics and public service.
As with so many aspects of the SNP’s churlish behaviour, the people of Caithness deserve so much more.
Eva worked for me for many years in the Scottish Parliament and knows the area well and she is not the first young person to move elsewhere for career purposes or, in her case, for love and to join her husband.
Eva impressed a lot of people during the general election campaign last year; Maree Todd must be seriously worried about her prospects of retaining her seat if she is indulging in such low behaviour.
As for the National newspaper, the only surprise was that an organ that has seen its daily print circulation drop by 30 per cent since 2022, now bought by less than 0.5 per cent of the Scots population, was able to afford to send anyone to ambush Eva in London.
More positively, it was gratifying to see Wick finally receive funding to allow the town centre transformation to proceed. Congratulations to Councillor Raymond Bremner for his patience and determination over the last seven years to see this through.
The changes should see a real improvement in High Street and increase the chances of it being a destination retail area once again.
Of course, the fact it took so long is no coincidence, with the SNP government cutting £252 million from the Highland Council budget since 2015 it was almost impossible for the council to pledge any funds, no matter how much they wished to.
What is also no coincidence is that it is only since the UK Labour government increased the Scottish Government’s budget to its highest ever level that Transport Scotland was able to find the money to put towards this project. It would be good to see this local, tangible benefit of Scotland sharing in the UK’s pooled resources acknowledged. I’ll not hold my breath.
Finally, my concerns over maternity services in Caithness continue. I have been in dialogue with NHS Highland about how they assess the risk to a mum when they ask her to travel to Raigmore to deliver her baby.
No one needs reminded how difficult the journey is at the best of times but asking women to travel at least two hours when experiencing the acute pain of labour is now the normal.
It is profoundly disappointing that safe maternity services have not returned to Caithness. When I see the restoration of maternity services to Dr Gray’s in Elgin with Caesarean births now being performed it just confirms to me where there is a will there is a way.
• Rhoda Grant is a Scottish Labour MSP for the Highlands and Islands.