Meeting of the Parliament 05 June 2024
Yes.
There are tragic consequences of failing to invest. Between 2020 and 2023, there were 144 deaths on Scotland’s major trunk roads that go outside the central belt, and 104 of those were on sections that were not dualled. Failing to invest can also hit people in the pocket. A constituent of mine found that out when his car suffered hundreds of pounds of damage when he was driving along the M8 at night. Amey, whose job it is to maintain that road, told him:
“It is not the duty of an Operating Company to make all roads under their control completely safe ... Our duty is to maintain roads in a condition which is safe for road users who are themselves exercising reasonable care.”
In other words, Amey was saying, “If you don’t look out for potholes and you hit one, it’s your own fault.” It is no wonder that driving instructors in Scotland are now teaching their students how to avoid them: just do not go out.
The cabinet secretary might well say that the debate is just us trying to score points ahead of a general election—or she might not, now that I have headed her off at the pass. She would be wrong, because we have been making those points for years and we are no nearer to seeing roads such as the A9 completed. Reading the Government’s amendment today, one would think that everything is just fine, the Government is cracking on with things and there is just a temporary pause because of—wait for it—Westminster.
I think that we should finish with a game. It is called “Guess who said this”, and all the questions are about the A9. The first one is easy:
“I am sorry that we will not have dualled the A9 by 2025 ... I want to be clear, though, that I do not accept that we failed to meet that target because we just did not bother and we were not trying to meet it. The 2025 target was set for the right reasons and we were committed to it.”—[Official Report, Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee, 29 May 2024; c 7.]
There are no prizes for guessing that that was Nicola Sturgeon last week.
Then there is this one:
“the A9 is the backbone of Scotland. It must be safe, reliable and resilient, and that is what the Government will deliver.”—[Official Report, 20 December 2023; c 23.]
While members are all being impressed by the stand-up comedy abilities of that speaker, I can tell them it was none other than Màiri McAllan.
Finally, Presiding Officer,
“This is not an easy project. The A9 dualling is one of the most sophisticated pieces of infrastructure we have ever undertaken … Things are getting done. We need to move on from this. I get sick and tired of listening to the Tories constantly bringing this up in parliament as if they own the issue. It’s us, that is the first government who has ever pledged to dual the A9 in its entirety.”
Control yourselves now. Who said that? Any guesses? No? The answer is witty Pete Wishart in his stirring address to the SNP conference last year.
That is a series of SNP figures with delusional outlooks. The SNP has had 17 years to deliver. It has not delivered. It will never deliver. The SNP needs to go.
I move,
That the Parliament acknowledges the importance of a well-maintained road network to Scotland’s economy; believes that Scottish National Party administrations have repeatedly broken promises on major road upgrades and that their underfunding of Scottish local authorities has led to a deterioration in the condition of local roads, and calls upon the Scottish Government to fairly fund Scottish local authorities and make road infrastructure a key priority.
15:30