Former Standard editor Bill Jardine caused a bit of a stooshie by giving us personal e-mails between himself and Argyll and Bute MSP Jim Mather about the apparent lack of progress on the Dunoon - Gourock ferry link.
We have tried to keep party politics out of this because, while politicians of various hues come and go, their legacies remain.
Do you think Jim Mather is doing enough on this issue? What about the rest of his work?
Leave your thoughts here.
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It's really simple. Jim Mather intentionally told the people of Dunoon what they wanted to hear. That's how he was able to boot out the Lib Dem MSP, and gain office.

Mr Mather, and the SNP, should be aware that he wouldn't have been elected had he not made that promise. The SNP won by one seat, and are now using that victory to claim legitimacy in railroading their plans to leave the UK. Maybe it's time that they started paying attention to the things that actually got them elected.

Without our votes, given on the back of this promise, Mr Mather wouldn't have a job as an MSP and Mr Salmond wouldn't have a job as First Minister.

As for my views on "other things" he has done I'm a little unsure of any. Perhaps looking at his role as a Minister of a government that promised to:
1. Scrap student debt
2. Introduce first time homeowner grants
3. Recruit 1000 extra police (which they tried not to do until the tories forced them into it)
4. Reduce class sizes to 18


Jim Mather has betrayed the people of Argyll and Bute as an MSP and he has betrayed the people of Scotland as a Minister. There's still time for him to turn around and start to try and keep to the promises that he used to win our votes, if he does that he might have a bit of hope, if not any credibility. If not I imagine we shall be soundly voting to remove him from office come the next election.

I remember the service to Dunoon prior to Western starting. Last ferry in the winter was 6.10 p.m. from Gourock, and if you missed that you had a rough night in a cold train carriage or a Police cell!
Western opened up Dunoon,and I know who I would chose for a monopoly service.Cal-Mac have the same attitude on a lot of routes - take it or leave it!

Just because the service was worse in the past doesn't mean we don't have a right to push for better now.

Who we want to have the monopoly is irrelevant to the discussion. If our local MSP believed in a monopoly then why did he promise to do otherwise?

To answer your question though. The only people that benefit from a monopoly are the company shareholders. When Western have a monopoly then there will be nothing to stop them raising prices or cutting services. Our MSP shouldn't be supporting the shareholders, he should be supporting the people. It's us that voted for him, and us that he promised to serve.

Agree with you, but I wonder whatever happened to the users charter? But why should (say) a few hundred people have their say on what they want, whilst the other 1.000`s who use Western all the time, never appear to make any comments at all? maybe a case of it`s too late now, when Cal-mac disappear in 2011.