Seasonal cheer

Today's Stornoway Gazette is required reading should one need a bit of cheering up this week. I summarise.

A recently elected member of the health board has visited the islands all of two times. He perambulates between Newcastle and Aberdeen, and of choice hangs a left at Perth to visit Stornoway.

The population in the Lewis district of Uig has been without EE broadband for weeks, in spite of technical teams having been in situ for the same amount time. Maybe they are prefixing the name of the company with the letter T. 

Calmac does not seem to wish to have island residents on its board, as it goes out of its way not to publish vacancies, leaving it for current members to inform their cronies of any such vacancies.

The workers in the Ferguson shipyard at Port Glasgow are ashamed to tell anyone they work there, following the 6-year delay in the delivery of two ferry ships. The reasons for that make very interesting reading, and could yet involve the Police.

The two surgeons in the Western Isles Hospital are quitting at the end of the year, leaving their positions to be filled by locums - which are very expensive.

Meanwhile, our MP is asking questions of the PM to which he already knows the answer - only to be able to flaunt his independence mantra, and get his face on the telly.