One lesson a career in journalism teaches you is to listen hard for what people are actually saying.
In the last week, since being selected as Labour candidate for Na h-
I don’t underestimate the task of returning the Western Isles to Labour and I need all the encouragement I can get. From the teachers’ rally I joined last Friday to the supermarket aisles, amid the handshakes and smiles there is a striking common theme.
Everyone I speak to is of the view that the islands are going backwards, not forwards. There’s a feeling that we can, and should, do better than this. A conversation with a neighbour who stopped to chew over the news of my candidacy and the state of world summed it up.
Now retired from the oil industry he said that if he was 30 years younger he would consider moving his family off the island. It was an honest, if shocking, shorthand assessment of the problems we face.
The unreliability of transport links, the decline of public services and the lack of economic opportunity all feed into the biggest challenge facing the islands -
That conversation is probably not far from the kind of decision many young islanders mull over as they wonder where their future lies. A century on from the shadow of emigree ships like the Marloch and the Metagama, we don’t have imagine too hard what it would be like if a family left from every village.
Neglect and indifference from Edinburgh and Westminster mean that the needs of the Western Isles have been ignored for too long. I’ve promised to be a new voice for the isles and I’ll use all my skills to make the case, in both languages, on the campaign trail and hopefully in parliament.
My endorsement meeting by Labour members last week was in Gaelic and English, which is how it should be. Gaelic is a great economic driver but all the cultural initiatives in the world will not keep our language alive unless there are jobs and public services to keep people in Gaelic-
After 20 years of broadcasting to home from Westminster it is a bit disconcerting to see Prime Minister’s Questions and First Minister’s Questions pass most people’s lives by. What used to be the focus of the political week as a journalist is just not on people’s everyday radar. They’re more worried about heating costs, food prices and wages and they’re looking for politicians interested helping them keep the show on the road and building a better future for their families.
Anyway, the cut and thrust of the Commons is nothing to the reception in the parliament on Point Street. The ribbing from the regulars in The Crit bar was frank and good humoured. I was assured any laughs at my expense were just to keep my politics grounded.
Grounded is what I have been by a month of storms and snow. Repeated attempts to get to Uist and Barra have been thwarted by high winds and displaced car ferries breaking the link across the Sound of Harris.
This may be the smallest constituency in the UK, just 21,000 electors, but the islands stretch a distance from London to the outskirts of Manchester. Getting around is hard enough without the creaking ferry service and the scandalous mishandling of the contracts for replacements.
Looming airport strikes, as emergency staff seek a fair pay deal, add to the winter of uncertainty.
Again you get the impression that Edinburgh cares little about the view from the islands or how many hospital appointments, business meetings and job connections could be affected.
The phone keeps buzzing with messages. People have been mostly kind on social media as well, which having been in the frontline of online since the internet was invented, is quite unusual. However, you can’t get carried away with that. As one veteran island campaigner quipped: “Are they all voters in the Western Isles?”
Well, not all are but encouragement comes from supporters of opposing parties and supporters of none. People are finding common cause with the real world message I’ve heard from islanders that they are hungry for change. This time Labour will give them the opportunity.
Torcuil Crichton: My first week as Labour candidate for Na h-
by Torcuil Crichton
11 February 2023
Torcuil Crichton aims to become Western Isles’ next MP