I wished to begin my speech by referring to the vessel "Clansman" and the Stomoway—Ullapool ferry, but I do not wish to be ruled out of order.

It is wrong to believe that in the Western Isles the community enjoys subsidised services and makes no contribution to the national Exchequer. In a good year, Harris tweed exports account for £5 million. According to a recent article in the Financial Times, the fishings in the Minch are equal in value to the British fleet's catch off Iceland. From my constituency, we send more students to universities per head of population than are sent by any other part of Britain. We are making a contribution, even in United Kingdom terms, to the Exchequer. We make no apology for the fact that some of the services to the Highlands and Islands have to be subsidised. Even in London, a very wealthy city, the Government, according to an answer given some months ago, heavily subsidise transport. The ferry at Woolwich is subsidised. The Government have paid for flyovers on the road to Heathrow and so on. We therefore make no apology that services to the islands are subsidised in certain cases.

I never thought that I would appear in the rôle as defence counsel for Cale- donian MacBrayne's, but I would not go so far in my condemnation as the right hon. Member for Argyll (Mr. Noble). However, we have many complaints against the company. The people of Barra are to use the vessel "Iona", which they regard as unsuitable. She is far too small, but would have been excellent on the Gourock-Dunoon run for which I understand she was designed. There are no cabins for overnight sailings, which would be acceptable if the vessel could be depended upon to sail every day. The weekly sailing of the cargo boat from Glasgow has been reduced to every 10 days, and even that schedule is not maintained.

To travel from Tarbert, Harris, to Loch Maddy a passenger has to cross the Minch twice and pay two fares in doing so. We accept that direct sailings are not possible on every occasion that the vessel leaves Tarbert but passengers should have to pay the fare only once. Then there are the appalling costs for various services. A farmer in my constituency bought about £130 of drain tiles for his farm. The transport took about two hours sailing from Uig in Skye to Tarbert, Harris. It cost more than £100. The company would not classify the goods as agricultural implements, though what a farmer would do with drain tiles other than use them on the land I do not know.

I cannot understand the implications of the decision that the new undertaking is for approved services rather than aggregate, so I shall keep my powder dry on that score and the Minister may hear from me at some future date. I agree with what the right hon. Gentleman said about consultation. That has been a sore point for generations in the Highlands and Islands. MacBrayne's makes changes in schedules and in charges and no one knows until about a week beforehand that they are to be imposed. Surely the Under-Secretary can influence the company to consult the local authorities at least to get their views on these proposed changes.

The Scottish Office should look at the Norwegian experience. In Norway, similar services, although not free, are regarded as part of the highway system, and the people in our areas are entitled to expect the application of that principle, as the Highlands and Islands Development Board has suggested. These services should not be required to be commercially viable. Other factors should be taken into account. This is an area to which the Government would be looking for the resources and finance to bail out what might be a bankrupt economy, and, therefore, we have a claim on the Government's finances to ensure that we have reasonable sea services. The services to the Western Isles should be efficient in operation and reasonable in cost. I welcome the draft undertaking.