CalMac

[islaydarkblue]

Does this £128m mean the we mainlanders subsidised you island dwellers to the tune of £124 m ( £128m less the £4m profit.

Not sure I really support this level of subsidy. I think about 60000 people stay ion the island catered for by CalMac. that works out at a wee bit over £2000 per resident.

I enclose details of the Calmac carrying statistics for 2021. https://www.calmac.co.uk/carrying-st...1-text-version
The figures are a bit skewed compared to pre Covid as there was a reduced timetable until 26th April 2021 with restricted passenger numbers throughout the whole of 2021.

[Deeranged]

It has been well documented in the press and media about the Scottish Government budget deficit figures using the GERS figures where there is a budget deficit of over £12k per person in Scotland which has to be bankrolled via the Barnett Formula.
The Scottish Government civil servants managed to over estimate how much money the Scottish Government would receive from Scottish taxation per annum.
This shortfall has been met by the U.K. Government but it is not planning to continue doing this forever.
The income that the Scottish Government receives from Scottish taxation is deducted from the block grant from Westminster which in my opinion defeats the purpose of having a Scottish taxation scheme in the first place.
People living in Scotland earning more than £27,000 per annum pay more tax than people living in the rest of the U.K. and also earning more than £27,000 per annum.

I pay more than £12,000 PA into UK government coffers in the form of tax and NI which would be Scottish Government income if independent so it's not really bank rolling via The Barnett Formula is it? It's just returning my tax money to the authority that will spend it where it's being earned.

[Deeranged]

I suggest that you take a walk along the Kingsway between the Old Glamis Road roundabout and the traffic lights at Forfar Road and see things for yourself. There is a least one dead tree along this stretch of the Kingsway.

What caused this tree to die? Can you say it was definitely diesel fumes and not disease or stripping of its bark by deer or vandals for example?

[Deeranged]

The local residents on the Scottish islands are also sitting ducks for the rip off merchants.
Last April (2022) my wife and I were in the Port Charlotte Hotel on Islay.
A pint of lager was £5 and an OVD was £4.50.
A can of Coca Cola was £3.
My wife and I were at the DSA Player of the Year dinner in the Invercarse Hotel ballroom last May (2022).
A pint of lager was £4.80 and an OVD was £3.75.
A can of Coca Cola cost £2.50.
Eating out on Islay is hopeless for local residents as the menus never change throughout the whole year.
That is OK for tourists staying for a week but no use for people living there all the year round.

I'm not disputing that things on the islands are a bit more expensive. As regards the menus the same can be said of most restaurants that are not Michelin star type establishments sourcing local, seasonal ingredients and devising daily menus based on availability.

I was in Knoydart a few months ago and a re4staurant there served what they had that day, it wasn't expensive but was excellent.

[islaydarkblue]

[QUOTE=Deeranged;40098446]I'm not disputing that things on the islands are a bit more expensive. As regards the menus the same can be said of most restaurants that are not Michelin star type establishments sourcing local, seasonal ingredients and devising daily menus based on availability.

I was in Knoydart a few months ago and a re4staurant there served what they had that day, it wasn't expensive but was excellent.[/QUOTE
There are no 4* restaurants on Islay. In fact the menus in the hotel restaurants are all basically the same with pub food charged at restaurant prices.

[islaydarkblue]

What caused this tree to die? Can you say it was definitely diesel fumes and not disease or stripping of its bark by deer or vandals for example?

I do not have a clue and I have no intention of inhaling diesel fumes to find out what has caused this tree to die.
That is the experts at Transport Scotland’s problem as they are responsible for the trunk road network throughout Scotland including the A90 Kingsway in Dundee.

[islaydarkblue]

I pay more than £12,000 PA into UK government coffers in the form of tax and NI which would be Scottish Government income if independent so it's not really bank rolling via The Barnett Formula is it? It's just returning my tax money to the authority that will spend it where it's being earned.

The £12,000 per annum you pay in tax and national insurance goes to subside all the people who do not pay tax and national insurance in the U.K. including Scotland.
Thanks to the Barnett Formula people living in Scotland currently receive a lot of perks which people living in the rest of the U.K. do not receive.
Free eye tests, free prescriptions for everyone, free bus travel throughout the whole of Scptland for people aged over 60 plus young people I think up to the age of 22.
People aged over 66 in England receive free bus travel in their own local area, not England wide.
In an independent Scotland all these perks would have to be paid from the income received from taxation collected by the Scottish Government tax department as the income from the Barnett Formula would have ended.

[islaydarkblue]

Does this £128m mean the we mainlanders subsidised you island dwellers to the tune of £124 m ( £128m less the £4m profit.

Not sure I really support this level of subsidy. I think about 60000 people stay ion the island catered for by CalMac. that works out at a wee bit over £2000 per resident.

People living in Mainland Scotland do not realise that the Calmac ferries are the bridges to the mainland for people living on these islands.
The tolls on road bridges were scrapped by the Scottish Government and using the same formula people should be able to travel on the Scottish Government owned Calmac ferries free of charge.

[grantzer]

People living in Mainland Scotland do not realise that the Calmac ferries are the bridges to the mainland for people living on these islands.
The tolls on road bridges were scrapped by the Scottish Government and using the same formula people should be able to travel on the Scottish Government owned Calmac ferries free of charge.

Or...

We stop subsidising ferries for people who choose to live on islands,and use the money for something better.

That money could be used to build windfalls,especially on the islands which would clearly be good for the environment,and would help with energy production. Or we could use it to fix the potholes on the roads on the mainland.

We could even use it to help a third world country survive,I would spend it in that Scotland place, to help the poorest people put food on the table,or heat their houses in the winter.

Surely that's money better spent than subsidising people who want to use the luxury ferries taking them to the houses they knew were on an island when they bought them?

[BCram]

People living in Mainland Scotland do not realise that the Calmac ferries are the bridges to the mainland for people living on these islands.
The tolls on road bridges were scrapped by the Scottish Government and using the same formula people should be able to travel on the Scottish Government owned Calmac ferries free of charge.

Nice try Islay! You cannot be serious!