A bit on the tough side

Calton apologises for the brevity of his posts at the moment but he is on holiday in the Highlands, where the scenery is to die for and you could die waiting for a web page to update! The only super-fast download happening hereabouts is the emptying of Calton's bird feeder by the local population of Coal Tits. And just in case you are concerned about the thought of a Sea Eagle feeding small birds, it's OK - Calton only eats politicians. He might have been tempted to have a bite of the recently departed Tory Chief Whip however the Labour vultures got there first and Calton suspects Mitchell would have been a bit on the tough side, despite hanging (on) for so long.

Catching up in the Far North

BT's £8m investment in faster broadband for the Highlands and Northern Isles will not only benefit local residents but will also be a welcome boost for businesses in those locations. It may even encourage businesses to relocate to areas which hitherto have been lacking in employment opportunities. Let's face it - there are very few businesses which don't use the internet in at least some capacity these days, even if it's only to file their tax return online, thus gaining a crucial extra few months in which to do it! Fast, reliable broadband is not a luxury - it is an essential which those of us in the Central Belt take for granted. It's good to see the Far North catching up.

In search of a suitable home

Calton was never in favour of selling council houses to tenants at a massive discount. Granted, one could argue that it is not really the job of councils to provide housing, and they do not necessarily make the best landlords, however the solution to that is to transfer council houses to housing associations, not sell them off cheap. We are now in the situation where demand for social housing far exceeds the supply and Shelter Scotland are calling for the right-to-buy to be scrapped. Calton agrees. He also thinks that lifetime tenancies which then pass to the next generation should also be reviewed to ensure that those in most need have a fair chance of getting a council house. The idea that you stay in the same house all your adult life, regardless of whether or not it is still suitable, is long past its sell-by date. We need to make it easier for older folk to downsize to more manageable properties thus releasing larger homes for young families. Not being a spring chicken any more, Calton is taking his own advice and is already planning his next eyrie (easy access, all on one level, well-insulated, walk-in shower, super-fast broadband). Oh well, one can always dream ..... especially about the broadband.

Not so fast

Calton is now back home and enjoying the benefits of broadband again after the struggles of posting from Glencoe yesterday on very-narrow-to-non-existent-band, which leads him to think that installing broadband in the Highlands would do much more for Highland businesses, and therefore employment, than installing windfarms. He is not alone in thinking this. There are plans to bring super-fast broadband to some areas of the Highlands, however it is not happening nearly fast enough to keep up with demand. Some may say that you go to the Highlands to get away from modern life but, increasingly, visitors expect not only good mobile phone coverage but also mobile internet. Calton is one of them, because how else can he keep his readers up-to-date when he is on one of his occasional forays up North?