Argyll and Bute Policy Proposals

The Existential Challenge

This is the absolute core issue, even more multifaceted than in the islands.

• Ferry Lifelines: The constituency is defined by its ferry routes, which are in crisis.
  Council-run Ferries: Services to the Slate Islands (Luing, Easdale, etc.) and other internal routes face chronic underfunding, ageing vessels, and existential threats to their continuation.
  CalMac Ferries: Reliability of services to Islay, Jura, Colonsay, Coll, and Tiree is plagued by fleet breakdowns and lack of resilience. Delays cripple tourism, business, and essential travel.
  The Gourock-Dunoon Ferry: The debate over a vehicle service vs. the current passenger-only service is perpetual, impacting Dunoon's economy and connection to the central belt.
• The A83 & "The Rest and Be Thankful": The main trunk road into Argyll is notoriously unreliable, frequently closed by landslides. Businesses, tourists, and residents face constant uncertainty. A permanent solution, not just temporary repairs, is the number one demand from the mainland population.
• Air Links: Essential lifeline services from islands like Tiree, Colonsay, and Islay to Glasgow must be protected and remain affordable.
• Digital Connectivity: Superfast broadband and reliable mobile coverage are non-negotiable for remote businesses and depopulation prevention, but many areas still suffer from poor service.

• Housing Emergency: The perfect storm: a high proportion of second/holiday homes (especially in coastal hotspots like Craignish, Seil, and Islay), a proliferation of short-term lets (Airbnb), and high build costs. This has made it impossible for young people and families to find secure, affordable housing, directly fuelling depopulation.
• Aging Population & Service Withdrawal: As young people leave, school rolls fall, leading to threatened closures. Recruiting and retaining GPs, teachers, and care workers in remote areas is extremely difficult. The viability of rural communities is at stake.

• Tourism Dependence & Management: Tourism is the primary industry but is seasonal and can be destructive.
  Moving to a value-over-volume model.
  Managing the impact of cruise ships in Oban and other ports.
  Ensuring tourism supports, rather than displaces, local communities through housing and employment.
• Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing: Supporting hill farming, crofting (in the islands), sustainable forestry, and the inshore fishing fleet. The aquaculture (salmon farming) industry is significant but faces environmental and regulatory challenges.
• Renewable Energy Opportunity: Argyll has massive potential in onshore wind, hydro, and marine energy. The campaign must focus on ensuring community benefit funds from these projects are substantial and transparent, and that they lead to local skilled jobs, not just remote profits.

• NHS Highland Pressures: Access to primary care is a major struggle. The future of local hospital services, particularly at the Mull and Islay hospitals, is a constant concern, with many specialist treatments requiring arduous travel to Oban, Paisley, or Glasgow.
• Education: Fighting for the survival of small rural schools, which are community anchors, and ensuring secondary pupils in remote areas have access to broad curricular choices.

• Extreme Diversity: The constituency contains island communities (with Hebridean culture), Gaelic-speaking strongholds (especially in Tiree and Islay), mainland peninsulas (like Kintyre and Cowal), and the service hub of Oban. A "one-size-fits-all" policy will fail. My campaign will demonstrate granular understanding.
• Feeling of Neglect: There is a strong sense that distant governments (Holyrood and Westminster) fail to understand the complexity of Argyll and Bute and chronically under-invest in its infrastructure.