Our communities in Argyll and Bute must have breathed a sigh of relief upon the SNP-Green government ditching their plans in relation to Highly Protected Marine Areas.

These plans would have effectively have banned fishing in a further 10 per cent of Scotland’s waters.

They were rightly opposed by the sector and our coastal communities including those that I represent. They were reckless and would have decimated the sector and put many livelihoods at risk, during a cost-of-living crisis.

While the plans to impose these illogical measures by 2026 have been ditched for now, urgent clarity is still required from the SNP-Green government as they go back to the drawing board.

Plans for Highly Protected Marine Areas form a key part of the Bute House agreement which has brought the Scottish Greens into government.

The original plans were clearly a case of the Green tail wagging the yellow SNP dog and it concerns me that Ariane Burgess, a Green MSP both welcomed these plans in the Scottish Parliament chamber as well as reaffirming the commitment on marine protected areas while being interviewed on the BBC.

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That worries me that the plans are merely being delayed and rebranded, rather than being scrapped altogether as they should be.

As SNP-Green ministers prepare to think again, they must visit our coastal communities here in Argyll and Bute and hear first-hand from them about the way forward to not only protect our seas, but ensure that livelihoods are not wrecked overnight.

I will monitor closely whatever future proposals are brought forward by these SNP-Green ministers who for months had only shown once again how out-of-touch they are with the needs of our rural and coastal communities.

Speaking of out-of-touch, I was terrified to read proposals that could see council tax rises of up to 22.5 per cent being imposed on local residents.

The plans, which were revealed in a leaked paper show that those living in council tax bands E-H could be hit by rises of between 7 and 22 per cent.

The fact that councils are even having to consider these sort of eye-watering increases is a direct result of years of savage cuts being imposed on our local authorities by the SNP government.

That has left a black hole in their finances and local residents are shamefully looking like they will have to pay the price while they are grappling with a cost-of-living crisis.

It is the last thing they need and Humza Yousaf and SNP-Green ministers must finally back repeated calls from the Scottish Conservatives to give councils like Argyll and Bute a fair funding deal and ensure these council tax increases are avoided at all costs.