KATE FORBES: Supporting the spread of Gaelic is long overdue

In the first few months of the Labour Government they seem intent on offending the population of the Highlands and Islands.

Not content with stripping the winter fuel payment from the coldest pensioners, they’ve also allowed their conference to be briefly associated with a throwaway anti-Gaelic comment.

I do find it bizarre that a party which came into office on the back of incredible electoral success has found itself damaging the people of the Highlands and Islands.

There have been enough column inches dedicated to the inherent injustice of Labour’s decision on the winter fuel payment.

But it is worth recalling the stark figures. In the Highlands and Islands, 90,800 people will lose the winter fuel payment this winter. That includes 15,800 in the constituency of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.

The basic income threshold for pension credit is £11,344. Nobody can convince me that a pensioner on £12,000 is somehow rich enough to afford the astronomical prices of fuel, in a region renowned for its cold, wet and windy winters.

The natural assets that enable us to generate so much renewable energy also plunge people into fuel poverty. Worse than that, the estimate for pension credit take-up is 63 per cent.

That means just over half of those eligible claim pension credit – and 37 per cent of the poorest pensioners will also be stripped of the winter fuel payment.

And whilst unrelated, the bizarre exchange with Anas Sarwar at the Labour party conference about Gaelic, affects many of the same people.

Attendees at an interview event were informed that Gaelic signs are offensive – namely the now-infamous sign at Haymarket station in Edinburgh.

Aside from the fact that I can think of a thousand more offensive things than a sign at a railway station, it is also a dispiriting and exhausting comment.

I know many, many Labour voters who are proud Gaelic speakers. I know many Gaelic speakers who are proud Labour voters. I know those comments don’t represent them or their priorities.

I’ve always been at pains to avoid politicising Gaelic. And I am not going to do that here. The Conservatives started the first Gaelic Medium schools. Labour introduced the first Gaelic legislation.

I am pleased to work with spokespeople in the other parties as the Languages Bill progresses through the Scottish Parliament.

The reason for this is that a language doesn’t discriminate on the basis of party allegiance, and parties shouldn’t discriminate against a language.

The most recent Census figures revealed an increase in Gaelic speakers. Whilst there were some worrying signs about the decrease in traditional areas, it is a matter of encouragement that overall figures are rising.

For those who are unaware of our nation’s recent history, Gaelic is fragile primarily because of the intentional, discriminatory policies and regulations of the state over centuries. That persisted until recently.

The Languages Bill seeks to build on the Gaelic Act of 2005, and acknowledge the relationship between language and land.

There are areas where there is a higher density of Gaelic speakers, and the social and economic interventions required in that area must consider their responsibilities to nurture and support the language.

That is true irrespective of the political allegiances of the population.

I abhor unnecessary attacks on the language itself. Scrutiny and accountability are necessary.

I would prefer to see Labour use its conference to push us, the SNP, to go further on Gaelic rather than criticise the very small steps that have been taken over the last few decades to give equality of opportunity to Gaelic-speakers and English-speakers alike.

Kate Forbes (SNP) is MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch and Deputy First Minister of Scotland.

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