Wishart responds to Scottish Government budget announcement 2026-27
Scottish Liberal Democrat and Shetland MSP Beatrice Wishart has responded to the Scottish Government’s budget announcement 2026-27 after the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, Shona Robison MSP’s Ministerial Statement this afternoon (Tuesday 13th January 2026).
On the scrapping of peak fares on the Northern Isles Ferry Service Ms Wishart commented:
“I welcome the announcement by the Scottish Government that peak fares on the Northern Isles Ferry Service are to be scrapped for islanders. The Northern Isles ferry service is there to meet the everyday travel needs of islanders.
“Seasonal fares never reflected the reality of everyday life, something I pointed out numerous times including in my written response to the Scottish Government’s consultation last autumn on the next contract for the Northern Isles Ferry Service.”
On a new ‘accelerator model’ of funding for Shetland Ms Wishart said:
“The development of a new ‘accelerator model’, which the Cabinet Secretary described as having the potential to be transformative as it could unlock hundreds of millions of pounds of investment for island communities, is welcome. Coupled with infrastructure development like tunnels this would help tackle depopulation.
“The devil will be in the detail, though it is welcome that Scottish Liberal Democrat calls for infrastructure investment have been heeded after the SNP abandoned their contentious islands bonds policy that they were committed to at the beginning of this Parliament.”
On budget negotiations Ms Wishart said:
“Scottish Liberal Democrats will continue to engage with the Scottish Government in good faith to ensure this budget goes as far as possible in meeting the needs of islanders as well as people, businesses and communities across Scotland. We continue to take a pragmatic approach to help deliver for the constituents we are elected to serve.”