Interview with Cllr. Gordon Blair and Lachie MacQuarie, SNP candidates in Cowal, Argyll and Bute

 Interview with Cllr. Gordon Blair and Lachie MacQuarie, SNP candidates in Cowal, Argyll and Bute

• Why are you standing as the SNP candidates in Cowal?

Gordon - Well, I’m already the local councillor representing the area for the past two terms and it’s really great to have Lachie standing alongside me because it means that we have the opportunity to give the voters another chance to elect another councillor. As you know, Cowal ward has got three candidates, and at the moment we have a Conservative, a Libdem and an SNP; and for the last term the SNP were not in the administration, so having an extra councillor in Cowal really gives us an opportunity to take on the whole council and that’s why it’s so exciting and it’s quite a privilege to have Lachie standing alongside me. It’s really good to have two candidates, for the people of Cowal and the people of our gaelic Bute is absolutely essential we represent national government here in Scotland in the local community. 

Lachie - I’m obviously reflecting what Gordon said, I’m standing because I believe in an independent Scotland and I think it’s disingenuous when you hear our councillors say it’s only local issues that matter. It’s local issues and it’s also national issues, we have to support what our national government in Edinburgh is doing. At a hustings I asked a question about Mr. Johnson (Boris), you’re probably well-aware of what Johnson’s up to in Britain (Partygate); I asked if they (the Conservatives) supported Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative Party leader, he withdrew his support for Johnson about three months ago and then when the war in Ukraine started his support was given back. I asked that and I was told it wasn’t a local issue and they weren’t going to answer the question. Then I asked a further question: “If that’s the case, then why are you standing as a Conservative and Unionist candidate?” So it does matter, although they pretend it doesn’t, so the whole thing is that it’s local but it’s national too. If we represent the Scottish National Party we’re representing the government in Edinburgh and what they want to do, that’s an important part for me too.

Gordon - I think the aspect we also have is that as members of a democratic party, because the Scottish National Party is democratically elected (we have branch and constituency meetings), we believe in democracy and at this time in the world democracy is a really important thing, so by being able to go out and stand up, debating with people and getting support from them, we are able to say that the people of Scotland by a majority and through proportional representation (PR) voted a government run by Nicola Sturgeon, head of the Scottish National Party. The reality is we need to bring that message home. We are a party about community and here in Cowal that’s what we’re running on.

• What are the main issues you want to prioritise in this campaign?

Gordon - Well, ferries are a major issue, and some SNP members get upset when I fight for a fit for purpose ferry coming across the water here in Dunoon, but whether there’s an SNP government, a Tory government or a LibDem government, the argument is the same. Democracy doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be critical of the Scottish government. In essence, working in the council for so many years it’s not necessarily the politicians that get it wrong, it is the officials who advise them; so we have to get that balance right. Ferries is one issue, the next one we have is a managed review of education. We`ve seen this tactic before, that at the end of the term of one council they introduce a major change in policy which is then handed over to the new councillors. The new councillors think this is great, but in fact it’s not their policy, it was implemented by the previous administration and therefore, that’s what’s happened with our education strategy. We want to review it.

Lachie - The cost of living crisis hasn’t hit us yet, the electricity went up on the 1st of April, so people haven’t really started paying this, but this crisis will be awful and we’re going to have to be ready to deal with that. It’s something that we don’t know how bad is going to be, but in the rural areas there’s a different type of poverty that you’ve got to deal with and maybe it’s not as dark as you’d see in a city. Living in the countryside or in an island, poverty is caused by inability for people to get backwards and forwards from an island to the mainland and all sorts of things like that. You’ve got to be able to make sure that all these things are available. 

Gordon - Last night we were delivering leaflets in a housing estate of 20 homes, and that was funded by the Scottish government, giving the money to the council and working with the local housing association to build these houses. As we wlaked around we saw good quality houses, excellent family homes, so why wouldn’t we want that standard for all our people? That’s coming from the Scottish government’s strategy, that’s a good housing practice that allows people to get fixed a boat, to get a job, to have self-dignity; and we’ve done that through the help of the Scottish government, promoted by them. That raises the standards for everyone’s lives to be able to know that your kids are in a warm secure home and they’re able to walk to the local school. Doesn’t that enhance society rather than closing schools because there’s not enough people going there? That’s not what it’s about, we’ve got to develop our rural economy, and that’s what we’re doing through housing policy. 

Lachie -  I attended school in a place which is is about six or seven miles from here and when I was at school there was 120 kids, they haven’t shut that school and it’s got 18 pupils now, so you can see what’s happened to the demographic. The cost of housing is a real problem too. What we need to do is to provide housing for people so they can afford to live, it’s very important, and of course we are now looking at war in Ukraine and everybody is thinking what’s going to happen. It is a really difficult subject, and you do get people at the doorstep asking what happens if we go to war with Russia (let’s hope we don’t) but that’s something in people’s minds too. Then, we’ve got a problem with a road, which is about 600 metres; to you that means probably nothing but to us is quite a difficult road to deal with because it’s on the mountain side and due to the structure it’s closed quite a lot, and it is the main road in Argyll & Bute, so we’ve got to address that problem. We’ve got to get that road operating reliably.

Gordon- I think the main thing is global warming and the climate. We’ve got a longer coastline here in Argyll & Bute than the whole of France, just imagine that. It is ideal for the tourists to come, spend the money here and promote the area; but the reality is that global warming is a major issue and from a council perspective we can promote solar panels and hydroschemes; because if we don’t do renewable energy we’re doomed. Those are the plans that the SNP has in Argyll & Bute. 

• Why is the SNP the best alternative to the other parties in Cowal?

Lachie - I’ve always had a vision of Scotland that is slightly left-wing, I always thought that we would be a better voice in the United Nations, I think we are too keen to follow the United States and if they say “Jump” we say “How high do we jump?” and sometimes I think we should stand further back and maintain our own judgement. My view is that wouldn’t vote for war. I think it would be great to have another country like Norway or Sweden that thinks before it talks.

Gordon - I think we’ve had the opportunity to see Tony Blair in action, Boris Johnson in action, David Cameron and even worse: Margaret Thatcher. I’d like to see an economic policy where there was a better share of entrepreneurialism and social justice, and with multimillionaires like Rishi Sunak (Chancellor of the Exchequer), why on Earth would anybody like to be controlled and manipulated by people that have no understanding of the issues of getting the rent paid, getting food on the table, putting shoes in your children’s feet? The finantial divide between the richest and the poorest is the worst ever and you don’t need to be an economist or professor of Finance to see that. That’s the options people have in Cowal: Lachie and I will fight hard for common sense, using our gumption to make sure we represent the people of Cowal in all its diversity. We are a diverse area, we welcome everybody, doesn’t matter what the colour of your skin is: you’re welcome here. People, regardless of their background, are assets to the community. We need to look after people, we’re part of the human race. We’re all going to be working to enhance people’s lives, that’s what we’ve got to do. That’s our obligation as SNP councillors.