Friday, March 26, 2010

Roaring Lyon beats wonky fruit ban

Ever so often, the European Parliament tries to do something completely bonkers. Remember all that nonsense when they tried to ban the sale of vegetables that didn't conform to a certain shape or size? Well, that issue reared its ugly head again this week. Thankfully Scotland's Liberal Democrat MEP George Lyon was there to be the voice of common sense and reason.

This means that he can get on with fighting for a fair deal for Scotland on a whole load of issues. One of his priorities is trying to do something about lowering fuel prices in areas of Scotland where having a car is a necessity, not a luxury. You try getting from Stoer to Ullapool, or Tomintoul to Aboyne, or Forsinard to Rogart or from anywhere in the Orkney Islands to anywhere else on a Sunday (or any other day of the week to be honest)and you'll see what I mean. You don't even have to be out in the remote far flung highlands to suffer from poor public transport links. Villages like Crombie and Charlestown in West Fife face being cut off if John Swinney doesn't provide more money to save their only bus service and it will soon be essential to have a car if you live there.

George wants to secure what they call in Brussels a derogation - which is a posh word meaning a regional reduction of fuel duties, to make life easier for people in Scotland's rural communities.

Almost a year ago, the Liberal Democrats in the Scottish Parliament put forward a motion calling on the SNP Government to ssecure a fuel duty derogation for Scotland.

So far, apparently, all the Government has done is to draw a pretty picture. By any standards, this just isn't good enough. Alex Salmond is quite happy to shout loudly on the world stage about independence, but drags his feet when it comes to a measure that would really make a difference to our rural communities.

George is campaigning on this issue and wants support to spur the SNP into action. Sign his pstition here.

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