Monday, February 28, 2005
Scottish Executive should help foreign multinationals
Well, that's the spin that could be put on the most recent request by Calum to have the Scottish Executive provide financial assistance to the fishfarming industry.
The reality of fishfarming is nowhere near as rosy as Calum likes to claim, and part of that is down to his own inaction.
The industry is essential for parts of the Western Isles where it provides key jobs in very remote locations. Then the product is shipped to cold, damp, and unattractive factories where the locals won't put up with the conditions and Ukranians gut the fish. The profits then disappear to Norway or Belguim, where the parent companies use Norwegian or Chilean imports to undercut their own Scottish product.
The same companies rebrand Norwegian and Chilean product as "Scottish" to emphasise it's quality.
Now Calum suggests we give more money to the rapacious marine landlords.
Not quite. If Calum had bothered to get involved in the debate, rather than appearing only when forced to, the industry would never have fallen into the shabby state it is now in. Support for small local farms, and the creation of an independent voice for these farmers would have seen more jobs locally, and more locally owned farms. If the EU had been pressurised by Westminster (and Westminster by Calum) then it is likely that anti-dumping measures would have been implmented and enforced much, much earlier.
Why should taxpayers money be squandered by giving it to foreign employers to keep the locals employed at poor wages, when the product will never be sold at a profit?
The reality of fishfarming is nowhere near as rosy as Calum likes to claim, and part of that is down to his own inaction.
The industry is essential for parts of the Western Isles where it provides key jobs in very remote locations. Then the product is shipped to cold, damp, and unattractive factories where the locals won't put up with the conditions and Ukranians gut the fish. The profits then disappear to Norway or Belguim, where the parent companies use Norwegian or Chilean imports to undercut their own Scottish product.
The same companies rebrand Norwegian and Chilean product as "Scottish" to emphasise it's quality.
Now Calum suggests we give more money to the rapacious marine landlords.
Not quite. If Calum had bothered to get involved in the debate, rather than appearing only when forced to, the industry would never have fallen into the shabby state it is now in. Support for small local farms, and the creation of an independent voice for these farmers would have seen more jobs locally, and more locally owned farms. If the EU had been pressurised by Westminster (and Westminster by Calum) then it is likely that anti-dumping measures would have been implmented and enforced much, much earlier.
Why should taxpayers money be squandered by giving it to foreign employers to keep the locals employed at poor wages, when the product will never be sold at a profit?
