Kate Forbes: Labour seem intent on insulting the Highland people

Not content with stripping the Winter Fuel Payment from the coldest pensioners, they’ve also allowed their conference to be briefly associated with a throwaway anti-Gaelic comment.

I do find it bizarre that a party which came into office on the back of incredible electoral success has found itself damaging the people of the Highlands and Islands.

There have been enough column inches dedicated to the inherent injustice of Labour’s decision on the Winter Fuel Payment.

But it is worth recalling the stark figures. In the Highlands and Islands, 90800 people will lose the Winter Fuel Payment this winter. That includes 15,800 in the constituency of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch and 5500 in Na h-Eileanan an Iar.

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The basic income threshold for pension credit is £11,344. Nobody can convince me that a pensioner on £12,000 is somehow rich enough to afford the astronomical prices of fuel, in a region renowned for its cold, wet and windy winters.

The natural assets that enable us to generate so much renewable energy also plunge people into fuel poverty.

Worse than that, the estimate for pension credit take-up is 63%.

That means just over half of those eligible claim pension credit – and 37% of the poorest pensioners will also be stripped of the Winter Fuel Payment.

Islanders are far more likely to be in fuel poverty than the average Scot. They’ve historically had the least energy-efficient dwellings – and almost two-thirds are off-grid.

That means they rely on more expensive sources of fuel like electricity and oil.

A view of Scalpay in the Outer Hebrides A third of the population are in fuel poverty in Argyll and Bute, the Highlands, Orkney and Shetland islands. The highest rates are in the Western Isles, at a remarkable 40%.

In other words, the hardest region in the UK is arguably the Western Isles. I do not envy newly elected Labour MPs who’ve just voted to punish the very voters who put their trust in them, in many cases for the first time.

I recently spoke to somebody in my own constituency of the Highlands whose elderly mother lives in the Western Isles.

They were astonished by Labour’s decision, and deeply worried about the welfare of their mother who has struggled in previous years to make ends meet.

This year, she’ll face a 10% average increase in her fuel bills – and less money to meet the costs. And whilst unrelated, the bizarre exchange with Anas Sarwar at the Labour Party conference about Gaelic, affects many of the same people.

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Attendees at an interview event were informed that Gaelic signs are offensive – namely the now-infamous sign at Haymarket.

Aside from the fact that I can think of a thousand more offensive things than a government-backed sign at a railway station, it is also a dispiriting and exhausting comment.

I know many, many Labour voters who are proud Gaelic speakers. I know many Gaelic speakers who are proud Labour voters. I know those comments don’t represent them or their priorities.

I’ve always been at pains to avoid politicising Gaelic. And I am not going to do that here. The Conservatives started the first Gaelic Medium schools. Labour introduced the first Gaelic legislation.

I am pleased to work with spokespeople in the other parties as the Languages Bill progresses through Parliament.

The reason for this is that a language doesn’t discriminate on the basis of party allegiance, and parties should discriminate against a language.

The most recent census figures revealed an increase in Gaelic speakers.

Whilst there were some worrying signs about the decrease in traditional areas, especially the Western Isles, it is a matter of encouragement that overall figures are rising.

For those who are unaware of our nation’s recent history, Gaelic is fragile primarily because of the intentional, discriminatory policies and regulations of the state over centuries. That persisted until recently.

The Languages Bill seeks to build on the Gaelic Act of 2005, and acknowledge the relationship between language and land.

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There are areas where there is a higher density of Gaelic speakers, and the social and economic interventions required in that area must consider their responsibilities to nurture and support the language.

That is true irrespective of the political allegiances of the population.

I abhor unnecessary attacks on the language itself. Scrutiny and accountability are necessary.

I would prefer to see Labour use its conference to push us, the SNP, to go further on Gaelic rather than criticise the very small steps that have been taken over the last few decades to give equality of opportunity to Gaelic speakers and English speakers alike.