Dave Thompson MSP

1.       Looking back over 2015, what have been the high and low points vis a vis your constituency?

The obvious political high in the Constituency and across Scotland was the surge in SNP membership which followed the Referendum and continued into 2015. This resulted in the General Election result where the SNP won 56 of the 59 seats in Scotland. In my constituency Ian Blackford and Drew Hendry became our local MP's. The economic high was the starting of the dualling of the A9 by the  Scottish Government which will ultimately have a huge beneficial effect for our economy. The low came about as the Conservatives won a majority in the rest of the UK and one of their first actions was to prematurely cut renewable subsidies, in favour of nuclear and gas, to the massive detriment of wind, tidal, solar and wave technologies in the Highlands.

2.       Looking ahead to 2016, what are your hopes for what the year could bring for the area you represent?

2016 is a big year for me as I stand down after nine years as an MSP at Parliament. I hope my constituents will remember my legacy as one of service. There is a wonderful new crop of excellent female SNP candidates standing in May and my hope is that many of these will be elected to serve the Highlands and Islands. I would like to highlight Kate Forbes who hopes to replace me, Gail Ross who hopes to replace Rob Gibson and Maree Todd who topped the SNP Highlands and Islands Regional List. In terms of the economy I hope that our efforts and those of  the wider business community will reverse the enormous damage already done to the Renewables Industry. The Highlands and Islands have much of the renewable energy potential available in Europe and if properly supported and developed it could continue to repopulate the Highlands and Islands with thousands of high value jobs.

3.       What do you see as the biggest challenges ahead for Ross-shire in particular and how could these be overcome?

I am afraid the biggest challenge facing Ross-shire is the Austerity cuts of the Conservative Government. The local Government settlement in 2016-17 from the UK Budget will impact everywhere in the UK but, as we know, it will cut a huge hole in Highland Council's finances which will affect us all. In addition, life is going to get even tougher for the poorest folk in the Highlands because of Sanctions and other DSS changes and the Scottish Government can only partially shield them from these draconian Tory cuts. The answer of course is Independence for Scotland which I will continue to fight for even after standing down as an MSP.