Every day, if they so choose, civil servants in Edinburgh can turn around in their plush, leather chairs and look out across the First of Forth to Fife on the opposite bank.

It is a splendid view, but it is hard not to think at times that many civil servants and politicians do not realise there are vast swathes of Scotland that lie beyond the Fife coastal towns opposite the capital.

The only time many of them encounter the likes of Kirkcaldy, Burntisland or Aberdour is on road signs as they make their way to their second homes in the East Neuk.

That is the only Scotland they really see and at times you can tell, particularly in the case of rural transport further north.

If they don’t see it then to many, it doesn’t actually exist which may explain why there appears to be such a casual indifference to the needs of rural Scots from those in the corridors of power.

Of course, the same civil servants looking out of their office windows will also see the Queensferry Crossing, which was put up fairly sharpish after the Forth Road Bridge suffered serious faults due to decades of overuse.

So it can be done – and on time and within budget too if there’s a political will.

The latest woe to hit beleaguered rural Scots saw the threat of many island flights disappearing permanently over £1.3 million of funding.

Regional airline Loganair cut some services from Inverness to the Wester and Northern  Isles and warned that communities across the Highlands and Islands face the prospect of even deeper cuts if nothing is done.

 It has since been resolved with the Scottish Government saying the flights are to be fully restored later this year.

Loganair reduced services in June due to sustainability concerns, but the airline said they could return to normal in October if funding was available.

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