Mike MacKenzie: I am pleased to have secured this debate in order to shine a light on energy storage, because energy storage is an often forgotten and sometimes undervalued aspect of our energy system, yet it is a fundamental and critical part of that system. I am grateful to Scottish Renewables for its report “Energy storage: The Basics”, because I have perhaps been as guilty as anyone in not previously...
Mike MacKenzie: I am grateful to Mr Russell for that information. I had not realised that Tom Johnston’s portrait was in Bute house. In Tom Johnston’s wisdom he recognised that what would benefit the Highlands and Islands would also benefit Scotland, and, in his wisdom, he recognised that what would benefit Scotland would also benefit the rest of the United Kingdom. It is that kind of wisdom that is...
Mike MacKenzie: I am very grateful to Mr Salmond for that further information. Like midges, a lot of small Scotsmen are equally difficult to exterminate. Energy storage is also used to provide a degree of energy security. The pumped storage facility at Cruachan provides the initial black-start power to jump-start the system in the event of a system-wide failure. With the advent of renewable energy, with all...
Mike MacKenzie: 4. To ask the Scottish Government what feedback it has received following its decision to increase the air discount scheme from 40 per cent to 50 per cent. (S4O-04751)
Mike MacKenzie: Will the minister comment on any further measures that he is taking or is able to take to improve the fortunes of Scotland’s islands?
Mike MacKenzie: Does the minister agree that the significance of the small business bonus scheme is sometimes understated and is not properly appreciated, and that there has been a year-on-year increase in the number of businesses taking up the available discounts, with 99,000 properties across Scotland now benefiting from the scheme?
Mike MacKenzie: The minister has touched on this subject. He will know that landslides have been a particular problem in the past few years, particularly at the Rest and Be Thankful. I know that the Government has made significant investment in the past few years. Will the minister touch on that, give a bit more detail about what investment there has been recently to prevent, as far as possible, landslides...
Mike MacKenzie: Will Mr McArthur at least acknowledge that Orkney Islands Council, which is in the constituency that he represents, enjoys one of the highest per capita settlements of any council area in Scotland?
Mike MacKenzie: I am pleased to speak in the debate as an islander and as a representative of the Highlands and Islands region. Most, if not all, of Scotland’s islands are in that vast region and, although not an expert on any of them—except, perhaps, the one that I live on—I am familiar with most of them. Therefore, I say with some assurance that although each of our islands is unique—each with its...
Mike MacKenzie: I thank Mr McArthur for making my point for me: it seems that he was not able to give one example. As an islander and as a representative of the Highlands and Islands region, I welcome the consultation on the proposed islands bill as one more milestone on a journey that, as we heard, started in July 2013 when, at a Cabinet meeting in Lerwick, the then First Minister announced the formation of...
Mike MacKenzie: By contrast, the Scottish Government has moved quickly to honour its commitments—
Mike MacKenzie: If I have time, I am willing to take Mr Macdonald’s intervention.
Mike MacKenzie: From where I am sitting, the speeches of Mr Macintosh and Mr McArthur did not appear to be all that consensual. The Scottish Government has honoured its commitments to the islands and has moved quickly, first of all by appointing Derek Mackay as Scotland’s first islands minister and then by proceeding with the preparatory work for Scotland’s first islands act and opening this...
Mike MacKenzie: As a layperson—that is, a non-lawyer who is not a member of the Justice Committee—I do not propose to talk much about the technicalities of the bill. Instead, my focus will be on the effect that it will have, or that I hope it will have, outwith the Parliament and outwith the courts in which our lawyers labour. The bill attempts to address two concerns, which both have much merit. The...
Mike MacKenzie: Will the member give way?
Mike MacKenzie: Jobs are being lost, investment is being lost and climate change targets are being threatened. It is time for this Parliament and the Scottish Government to have full powers over energy so that we can reverse the UK Government’s misguided decisions. Otherwise, we all face a future of energy prices that are much, much higher than they need to be.
Mike MacKenzie: Ever since Margaret Thatcher began the privatisation of our energy system in the early 1980s, UK Government energy policy has been progressively failing. Back then, we had a robust system with inbuilt resilience and spare capacity. The term “fuel poverty” had not yet been coined. Now, the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets has warned repeatedly about the lights going out. Spare...
Mike MacKenzie: I think we are all in agreement that subsidies should gradually be rolled back as technologies come to maturity. We are in disagreement with the Tories on the speed at which those subsidies are being withdrawn. How does the member justify the huge subsidies that the nuclear industry is receiving? If it is not a mature technology by now, when will it ever be?
Mike MacKenzie: I am delighted to have secured this debate as an opportunity to highlight the significant contribution that has been made by communities across the Highlands and Islands and, indeed, the rest of Scotland in ushering in for Scotland a new energy future that is brighter, cleaner and greener, in which we have greater energy resilience and security, and which is less dependent on a few big...
Mike MacKenzie: I do not necessarily accept the proposition that the Gigha community is in a bad way financially. Communities often have to borrow money, but when we look at their balance sheets properly, we realise that although there is a bit of borrowing, overall, they are in a good situation. I think that the people in Gigha are due great credit for being prepared to shoulder some risk in borrowing money...
