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A-PRE-ELECTION campaign row has erupted between the SNP and the Labour Party in the Western Isles over the air passenger tax.
The SNP claim that Labour have done a U-turn and now support the tax, but Labour reject this.
SNP Prospective parliamentary candidate for the Western Isles, Dr Anne Lorne Gillies claimed that MP Calum MacDonald had reversed his position on airline passenger tax.
Mr Macdonald spoke about the tax during a debate on the Finance Bill in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
Said Dr Gillies, "Some weeks ago, airline passenger tax was a burden on the people of the Western Isles which, according to Mr MacDonald, the Labour Party would remove."
She went on, "And last weekend, Gordon Brown announced that it could not be removed by any future Labour Government as the revenue was already factored into its spending proposals. On Tuesday, Calum MacDonald stood up in the House of Commons and opposed an SNP motion for its abolition."
But Mr Macdonald hit back yesterday (Wednesday).
"The SNP are wrong in their facts," said Mr Macdonald. "The question of the airline passenger tax (APT) in UK terms is totally different from its impact upon the Scottish islands."
He stated, "What Gordon Brown has said is that the airline passenger tax now raises £800 million on national and international flights and obviously the abolition of APT overall would leave a big hole in the public finance. However, both Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling, the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, have made it clear that they will initiate a major review of all transport costs affecting the Scottish islands, including high ferry charges, to work out the best way of supporting the transport needs of the islands."
Mr Macdonald also stated, "That commitment was made again on Tuesday night in the Commons by the Labour front bench. Unfortunately, the amendment that would have specifically targetted help to the Scottish islands on APT was not selected by the Speaker for debate. I moved such an amendment three years ago and I would have supported it again had it been selected."
He went on, "Unfortunately, the SNP/Ulster Unionist amendment tied relief on APT to Objective One designation and that obviously goes much wider than the Scottish islands, and includes Northern Ireland and Merseyside. Moreover, in three years' time, it is very likely that the Highlands and Islands will lose their Objective One designation and so we would end up losing any relief - and perhaps Merseyside could continue to get it, which is plainly absurd. That is why the amendment did not attract any Labour support."
He said that Mr Darling had given an assurance that Labour would examine how the Government support transport to the Scottish islands - both by air and sea - and decide how best the majority of individuals and businesses on the islands could be assisted. Mr Macdonald said that he and Liberal MP for Orkney and Shetland, Jim Wallace would be holding top level talks yesterday afternoon in connection with the APT.
But Dr Gillies claimed that Mr Macdonald had in fact done a u-turn on the issue.
"Quite apart from the enormous about face which he has performed, the logic of his argument centred on his expectation of the removal of Objective One funding from the Highland and Islands after 2000. I am not that pessimistic or fatalistic."
She went on, "Only last week Dr Winnie Ewing MEP met with Callum Iain MacMillan at Lews Castle College to discuss how to secure Objective One funding in the future. Mr Macmillan made it perfectly plain that the loss of Objective One would severely affect the financial security of the College." The two had agreed to work together to try to ensure that Objective One status remained.
She added, "The SNP will work tirelessly to ensure continued EU funding. It is only through the efforts of Winnie Ewing - and despite the objections of Labour MEPs and the Tory Government - that Objective One was granted. If our MP is prepared to give that up to curry favour with his front bench, then the electors of the Western Isles should remember that on election day."
Original article Stornoway Gazette Mar 15 1997.
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