Following a vote in the European Parliament late last year, there is a proposal to apply a strict 48-hour limit to average weekly working time. Crucially for our emergency services, the limit would apply to time spent 'on call' just as much as time spent attending incidents.

The consequences even for full-time emergency service staff could be significant, but the greater concern is what this would mean for the dedicated people who are the mainstay of the fire and rescue service in Ross and Cromarty. By earning their main income doing other jobs, retained firefighters extend the scope of emergency cover in the Highlands and Islands beyond what would otherwise be remotely possible within present resources. Indeed, the Highlands and Islands' chief fire officer, Brian Murray, has said the proposed change would make it "virtually impossible to guarantee an emergency response" across much of our area.

It is worth being clear that there is no immediate cause for alarm: decision-making at European level is a slow process and there is every chance that the right compromise can still be found to protect live-saving services. Equally, the very existence of these proposals shows that we cannot afford to be complacent.

I was surprised to read that local SNP MSPs have described discussion of this issue as 'unhelpful'.

Far from keeping quiet, we need not only to be clear ourselves that the working time proposals are unacceptable in their current form, but also to explain clearly to others across Europe why that is so. I don't believe people from Tallinn or Toulouse send their MEPs to Brussels to damage fire response cover in Torridon any more than we would do the reverse.

Europe has a strong track record of understanding and supporting the needs of the Highlands — sometimes conspicuously more so than Ministers in either Edinburgh or London. But the European Union is at its best when its people are properly engaged in what is going on in Brussels.

That is why, when it matters, we should all turn our attention to the decisions taken in our name there. It is also why our region needs a strong voice at the European table. I have always argued that there should be no contradiction between being a proud Highlander, a Scot, a citizen of the UK and a European. To ensure that always remains the case, we need to keep building a union which celebrates the differences between us as well as what we have in common — and legislates with understanding and some restraint rather than a desire to create dull homogeneity.

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LIKE many, I was pleased to see a deal done across a broad coalition to get a Budget Bill through the Scottish Parliament.

It will take more than one Bill to turn back the economic tide, but we have a better budget for the Highlands as a result of the strong negotiating position taken by Tavish Scott and the Liberal Democrats, pushing the Government to respond to the economic storm.

The Scottish Government's agreement to lift the roadblock it has put on investment in school buildings since 2007 is important and overdue. We must resume progress so that the benefits of first class new facilities at Dingwall and Portree – as well as at a number of local primaries — can be extended to those young Highlanders who still cope with inadequate accommodation at school. For the longer term, making the case for the Parliament to have borrowing powers is the realistic way forward — especially to prevent the Forth Bridge crossing squeezing out Highland transport investment until 2016 or later — and it is good that has now been recognised.

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