Meeting of the Parliament 20 December 2022
Thank you, Presiding Officer. I completely agree with everything that has been said by Mr Burnett, Mr Balfour and my other colleagues about today’s proceedings.
Colleagues have now had a chance to read my amendment to the business motion, which calls for a statement tomorrow on the strategic transport projects review 2. That was issued by the Scottish Government nearly two weeks ago, at the end of the week, but no parliamentary time has been allocated to it so far. There has been no debate and there have been no questions—nothing—yet this eagerly awaited document could have far-reaching consequences.
As a Parliament, we should expect to have statements on important matters such as this one as soon as the documents are issued. There is simply no good reason for the Government to avoid being questioned on STPR2—unless, of course, it does not fancy the undoubtedly tough grilling that it would get from me and others.
To say that STPR2 is a damp squib is a massive understatement. People who live in the south-west who were hoping to get some good news on the upgrading of the A75 and the A77 are still waiting. If people want to find out when the A9 will be fully dualled between Perth and Inverness, the document is not for them, I am afraid. We would think that it might have been.
There are lots of warm words, but they offer cold comfort for communities the length and breadth of Scotland. There is nothing in the STPR2 for people who rely on Scotland’s ageing ferry fleet. There are plenty of ifs, buts and maybes, but no firm commitments to build bridges and tunnels or improve ports. There is no ferry replacement plan. We must wait for that, I suppose.
There are the usual platitudes about wanting to cut car miles by a fifth within seven years, but just how that is going to be achieved is anyone’s guess. People will certainly not discover the answers from the document.
On railways, we have conflicting statements. I quote the document:
“The plan includes the following statement in relation to transport: ‘By 2032 ... we will have decarbonised our passenger railways’”.
However, it goes on to say that, by 2032,
“Scotland’s passenger rail services”
will be
“considerably decarbonised, with just a few years to go until they are fully decarbonised”.
That is not the same thing.
The point is that all of that gives MSPs much to chew over, but with no chance to question the minister. Instead, we have the farce of this week. We have been through that already, with a potential midnight sitting tonight and another late one tomorrow. We should be having statements on things such as STPR2 and dealing with important matters such as that, which affect all our constituents and all our constituencies.
I move amendment S6M-07320.2, to insert after “3.15 pm Portfolio Questions: Rural Affairs and Islands; Health and Social Care; Social Justice, Housing and Local Government”:
“followed by Ministerial Statement: Strategic Transport Projects Review 2”.
Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.