ANGER AS BOUNDARY COMMISSION AGAIN IGNORES WISHES OF LARGO RESIDENTS

12.01.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 3rd Sep 2009

North East Fife MSP Iain Smith has reacted angrily to the news that the Boundary Commission for Scotland has refused to review is proposed constituency boundary for North east Fife, despite overwhelming public opposition to their plans.

Responding to the news that North east Fife has not been included in the Constituencies where the Boundary Commission has agreed to review that has been published today, Iain Smith said:

"It beggars belief that the Boundary Commission has once again totally ignored the wishes of the local communities of Largo and Lundin Links that they wish to remain in the North East Fife constituency for the Scottish Parliament.

"The Commission has so far failed to give any explanation of why they have taken no account of public opinion, why they have ignored their own rules by taking no account of the local ties that will be broken and why they have ignored the Report of Sheriff Principal Dunlop into the public inquiry on its draft proposal which stated that 'this inquiry has thrown up as strong an example of such local ties as one is likely to find'.

"The Boundary Commission for Scotland is clearly wrong to ignore these issues and at very least this arrogant, unelected body owes the people of Largo & Lundin Links an explanation of why it thinks it is right and everyone else is wrong.

"I have written again to the Boundary Commission stressing that it is not too late for them to right this wrong, but can assure them that the fight is far from over."