DAVID STEWART: The cost-of-living crisis needs swift action not delays to help residents in Inverness and the rest of the Highlands
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
We were through in London earlier this week to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. It does not seem four decades ago that our big day at the West Church took place – at the same time as the Queen Mother opened the Kessock Bridge, which did cause some confusion.
This week was our first trip to London since the Covid pandemic struck. It was strange being a tourist in my old place of work – the Palace of Westminster, Portcullis House (my old office) and Dover House – the home of the Secretary of State for Scotland, where I worked for a few years up to 2005.
We passed Downing Street in the sweltering heat of central London, but no sign of Boris (readers of the Daily Mail will know he was in a five-star eco-friendly hotel in Slovenia)!
Meanwhile, the Tory leadership election continues with increasing bitterness from both Liz Truss and former Chancellor, Rishi Sunak.
But for ordinary families in the Highlands, it is the cost-of-living crisis that bites every day of the week which counts – not empty soundbites from leadership contenders.
The poorest families in Inverness, Nairn and Ross-shire will feel the effects of the fuel and food price increases disproportionately.
The war in Ukraine will continue to push energy and food prices up. This is reflected in Ofgem’s decision to review the cap on energy prices every three months.
This is not good news for north families on low incomes, facing a rough Highland winter in a poorly insulated home.
So, the new occupant of Number 10 Downing Street next month has a huge responsibility on their shoulders – getting inflation under control must be the first target.
The YouGov poll for the Times indicated that over 60 per cent of voters thought that the next PM should concentrate on inflation with only 17 per cent favouring tax cuts. Surely there is a case for an emergency cost-of-living budget to help hard working families with energy costs this winter?
n Let the train take the strain? Have been trying to leave my car at home and use the train more in the last few years. Took the Lumo Service from Edinburgh to London last Saturday. Efficient service, friendly staff.
On the return from King’s Cross to Edinburgh – a different operator – it was chaos! Wait for this – hay on the overhead lines caused massive delays and train cancellations. Eventually crawled into Edinburgh Waverley nearly three hours late, in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
n My daughter Kirsty’s wedding over a month ago seems a dim but very happy memory. However, now that my bank account is recovering from the shock of the financial meltdown called “wedding expenses”, I had one last task: take Kirsty’s wedding dress to my local dry-cleaning firm.
I used to go there regularly with my suits when I was working, so when I handed in a wedding dress, it brought a wee smile from the friendly staff. “Will late September be OK for it, David?”
“Absolutely!” came my reply, “no more weddings before then!”
