Na h-Eileanan an Iar SNP MP Angus MacNeil has praised Prospect union for easing industrial action this week to enable ballot boxes to be moved between islands after the polling stations have closed on Thursday.

Mr MacNeil said: “Prospect and Air Traffic Control members in both Benbecula and Stornoway, and other places, are very justified in trying to protect their jobs and making sure jobs are not taken from these fragile communities to be bizarrely put into a central location in Inverness at a far greater cost.

“We would hope that, once elected, the new Scottish Government would be understanding to the needs of the islands and make sure that we don’t lose these jobs in our communities.

“They need to get a grip of the wayward elements within HIAL who have been disregarding island legislation and the good of island communities in their attempt to spend even more public money – a sum of £2m each and every year –  because they refuse to entertain the prospect of doing what they say they need to do, locally.

If they costed this, they would find it would save them and the public purse a lot more money and wouldn’t be damaging our island communities.

“I hope any new or continuing Transport Minister will be up to the game of catching HIAL and protecting the communities.”