A Momentous Year

As another year draws to a close, it is only fitting to look back on what has been quite an extraordinary year and once again look forward to what the next year might have in store.

There can be little doubt that for almost everybody one of the biggest issues over the last year has been the state of the economy and the impact it is having on people’s day to day lives. Already low levels of economic growth in the UK economy are falling and there is a significant danger of a plummet back into recession. That will have a real and damaging impact on jobs and livelihoods and will undoubtedly be the biggest issue facing us in the year to come.

Measures that will encourage economic growth are desperately needed, yet it is against this background that Scotland is facing sharp reductions in our budget as a result of spending decisions made by Westminster. The budget for capital spending has been reduced by 20% in this financial year compared to the last and by 2014/15, will be 32% lower than it was in 2010/11. It is capital spending that provides the greatest stimulus to an economy, which is why the Scottish Government is using every lever at its disposal to increase spending on infrastructure despite the handicap imposed on us by the UK Government. With greater powers over our own finances, we would be able to do substantially more and the case for doing so is one we will continue to press despite the intransigence of the UK Government.

No look back over the past year in Scotland could fail to mention the Scottish Parliament elections and the incredible faith that the people of Scotland placed in the SNP. To win a majority in an electoral system designed to make such an outcome highly unlikely was in incredible feat in anybody’s book. It has taken Scotland into new political territory and with a pro-independence majority in Holyrood for the first time, it will continue to have a huge impact on the shape of our country in the years to come.

In the run up to the election, we promised to hold a referendum on independence in the second half of the parliamentary term and that is a timetable we fully intend to keep to. Yet there will undoubtedly be extensive discussion and debate on the constitutional future in the coming year and that is something I am sure people across Banffshire & Buchan Coast will want to play a full and active part in.

The fishing industry in recent weeks faced a huge threat of a reduction in its days at sea as a result of an utterly wrong-headed interpretation of EU fishing rules. Frenzied negotiations successfully staved off this threat in the end, but it is once again a clear demonstration that the rules governing the Common Fisheries Policy are simply not fit for purpose and their reform cannot come soon enough. The annual danger that the industry is put in is simply no way to manage fish stocks. What will be welcome though is that quota increases for some key stocks were successfully secured, in clear recognition that the conservation efforts of the Scottish fishing fleet are paying off.

I hope that everyone in Banffshire & Buchan Coast has a merry Christmas and a very happy new year when it comes.