Travelling throughout the country, I am often disappointed by the lack of effort by some of our tourist destinations to sell Scotland's larder to their customers. And where our attractions do stock Scottish produce, they often fail to tell their customers.

Around 16 million visits to Scotland are recorded every year. If our tourist attractions were to stock more Scottish produce, then that could provide a huge boost to our companies and promote our international reputation for quality food and drink. Any increase in demand will certainly benefit Moray's significant food and drink sector. It would also be good news for our local farmers and fishermen.

This is not just about introducing our local food to overseas visitors, but Scots who holiday at home as well.

I am aware that many of our own visitor attractions in Moray already promote local food and drink, but I hope all our visitor attractions will do even more to showcase Scotland's glorious larder.

Talking day and night

I HAVE just returned from the latest European fisheries negotiations in Luxembourg.

It was quite a journey getting there. I had to leave last Sunday and travel straight from SNP Conference in Inverness.

Via Aberdeen and Amsterdam, I finally arrived in Luxembourg at 10.30pm and met Scottish Government officials at 11pm to chat about the next day's important talks.

The negotiations started at 10am on the Monday and were adjourned at noon. We reconvened at 1.30am on Tuesday after many meetings through the day and into the night involving the 27 countries. Agreement was finally struck at 2.30am and I got to bed after 3am. After further discussions on Tuesday morning I arrived home in Elgin at 8pm on Tuesday.

Participating in European negotiations over the past two years has been a real eye-opener. I am not sure that bleary-eyed Government ministers and scores of officials working through the night is the best way to make important decisions on the future of vital Scottish industries.

The whole exercise is repeated for the next round of negotiations in November and again in December. These are extremely important negotiations for Moray and Scotland's fishermen and farmers.

Conference success

THE SNP has just had a very successful annual conference in Inverness, which was a handy location for local delegates who turned out in numbers.

The SNP is in confident mood and relishing the challenge of next year's crucial UK elections. Party leader and First Minister Alex Salmond has set a target of winning 20 seats, with the prospect of the SNP holding the balance of power in a hung parliament. This would allow Scotland to extract major concessions from a new UK Government.

Elgin SNP successfully proposed a motion on the use of rail freight locally, and our very own MP, Angus Robertson, who is the SNP's business convener, was to the fore throughout proceedings. He also delivered a talk on defence to a packed fringe meeting.

Most importantly, Moray SNP's whisky stall raised a lot of cash after delegates queued up to win fantastic Speyside malts.

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