Things come around

Almost exactly  ten years ago I blipped a group of Shetland young people who had come to the Scottish parliament to present a petition about rural school closures.   I was Education Secretary at the time and they  gave me this St Kilda Mailboat which had within it not just the signatures of those concerned, but also the music of Tom Anderson's moving tune  "The Slockit Light" which one of the students played on the fiddle.

Rural school closures were tackled by legislation  and new practice but now they are  threatened again  in various parts of the country.   The issue of  depopulation is also back on the agenda, and I   have been involved recently in a number of discussions about the need to greatly accelerate the provision of housing in rural areas, a task in which I hope the Scottish Land Commission can play some type of  useful role. 

The mailboat now sits in my study in Argyll, right by my desk, and - by coincidence  - right next to a picture of St Kilda.   It is a timely reminder of how much still needs to be done, and with ever greater urgency.