Tuesday 31 January

As January draws to a close, the knighthood was stripped off Fred Goodwin, erstwhile boss at the Royal Bank of Scotland. He is the fall guy, although by no means without guilt, held responsible for all that went wrong in the banking sector in the UK some 4 years ago. Fred the Shred had his knighthood shredded, I'd say. He is still pocketing £650k a year as a lifelong pension. Pity he (and other guilty bankers) couldn't be clapped in jail.

Here in Stornoway, a meeting was held this evening between disgruntled islanders and the boss of fuel wholesaler Scottish Fuels, Sam Chambers. I am awaiting reports of the meeting, but am not holding my breath on an imminent reduction in fuel prices by 15 to 20 pence. The problem is that a fuel tanker plies the waters of northern Scotland, delivering fuel oils to places like Inverness, Scrabster, Kirkwall, Stornoway and the Uists. Petrol prices in Inverness are some 15-20 pence lower than in Stornoway, in spite of the fact that the juice is delivered by the self-same boat. A previous meeting between Mr Chambers and the local council led to acrimonious scenes outside the council offices in Sandwick Road here.