Manford is 'mushroomed'

It's cannot be often that the leader of a council political group is kept in the dark and fed bull$hit by the Minister, MP and MSP of the same party.

But that is what has happened to my old friend and colleague Cllr Donald Manford, who Chairs the Transportation Committee on Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.

And the issue?

Well this week Cllr Manford announced that the Scottish Government had instructed CalMac to search for a suitable vessel for the Lochboisdale-Mallaig route.

Unfortunately for Cllr Manford, it is a wide-spread knowledge in the shipping industry that CalMac have been searching for a vessel for the past three months, since the Minister instructed them to do so despite a previous refusal to consider the service, and after subsequent lobbying by Angus MacNeil MP and Alasdair Allan MSP (and Storas Uibhist).

The Convener of the Comhairle is a director of CalMac, so he knew this was in the offing. Many Councillors knew it was happening, including the Labour Group - who in a final, vicious, twist have assumed that Cllr Manford was in the loop and have spread the word that he was keeping the Council in the dark for party political gain.

Donald - I am told - chose his words carefully, saying that he had just become aware of the situation. But that was lost in the noise.

But the final (and utterly undeserved) attempted humiliation for Donald from his own side is that the deal that the Government is pushing is for the current Oban-Castlebay-Lochboisdale service to become a Mallaig-Lochboisdale-Castlebay service, leaving Donald's constituents with a much worse service, and to a location they have little connection with.

The result of all this duplicity is now public knowledge in Barra, and the people there are up in arms with a public meeting this week certain to express total opposition to the plans brokered behind Donald's back by their MP.

That'll be a fun meeting, at which I hope the truth comes out, and Donald does not become collateral damage.