‘Cheaper messages’
Letter from Geoffrey Botterill
When the Co-op announced a few years ago that it was to double in size, a friend said excitedly, “We’ll get cheaper messages!” There was, of course, no evidence of that, but that’s what he wanted, so he was sure that’s what he’d get. I was uncertain. I was concerned there was likely to be a knock-on effect on smaller, local shops, as usually happens when a big supermarket comes on the scene. And so it came to pass. Some village stores have closed, the independent butcher in Brodick is no more, the cd shop shut, the Good Food Shop shut, and eventually the garden centre, too. Whether we got cheaper messages as well, I’m not so sure.
All this came to mind when I read in last month’s Voice of Chomsky’s “few brisk words … about the market system and the unknown people who may be affected by the deal …” Another thought crossed my mind when I read the report about Lesley Riddoch’s meeting [Lamlash High School last month], in which she compared Scotland to Norway, where “the regulatory hand is light”. The report said “On Arran, we all know people well able to build a home made of the abundant timber, and anxious to do so. But they are not allowed to. Instead, we watch tree trunks being hauled to the pier and shipped off to the mainland to be pulped for paper. Is this not crazy?”
I agree. It is indeed. So what is the answer? There’s a broad hint in the article: Scottish Independence. Scotland could then become much more like Norway and all would be well. But would it? Planning policy is already completely devolved to Holyrood. Perfidious Westminster has nothing whatever to do with it. There is nothing at all to prevent the Scottish Government implementing a regulation-light, Norwegian-style policy right now. It chooses not to do so.
I have spent the past three years fruitlessly trying to get permission to use one of our spacious, high-specification holiday cottages as a permanent home for a local family to live in. While our councillor, our MSP and the chairman of the planning committee all promote the boundless benefits of independence, none has ensured that common sense prevails in this instance, even when they already have all the powers to do so.
That, I’m afraid, is the reality. By all means, dream of sunshine and “freedom”, but be prepared to be disappointed. All too often would-be messiahs have feet of clay. Personally, I’m hoping for a unicorn and trying not to think about “the unknown people who may be affected by [the] deal”. As for cheaper messages, there’s 15% VAT on food in Norway. Zero in the UK.
Geoffrey Botterill
