Orkney MSP, Liam McArthur, has criticised the Scottish Transport Minister, Stewart Stevenson, for rejecting his request that the Minister uses the current ferries review to set out rules for lifeline services to protect them from having their service removed without consultation, as happened in April when the Hamnavoe was sent to Norway by the Scottish Government at the same time as the NorthLink service from Kirkwall was removed to allow the single vessel on the route to run a shuttle from Aberdeen to Shetland. Liam McArthur put his request to the Minister at Question Time in the Scottish Parliament today.

Commenting on the Minister’s reply, Liam McArthur said, "The decision by SNP Ministers effectively to remove Orkney's lifeline ferry services for a period at the end of April caused serious disruption and financial loss to many of my constituents. The experience has also raised real concerns in Orkney about the implications for our lifeline services in the future.

"In light of those fears, I urged the Transport Minister to use the government's current ferries review to develop a protocol for defining what constitutes a lifeline service. This would also set out clearly the definition of an emergency and the steps to be taken for consulting on any similar move to divert services in the future.

"Instead of providing such an assurance, the Minister sought to brush off any suggestion that there had been a disruption to services. Indeed, he argued that weather is a bigger factor in the cancellation of services, as if somehow this was a revelation he had only recently stumbled upon.

"But while those living and working in Orkney accept the impact that weather can have on lifeline ferry and air services, what they will struggle to accept is that this then makes it alright for Ministers to remove them at a whim as well.

"He may not be responsible for the weather, but Stewart Stevenson is responsible for his own ferries review. His failure to give any assurances about future safeguards for lifeline ferry services will therefore add to the fears felt by my constituents".