FERGUS EWING: Inverness Courier debate achieved clear promises on the A9
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Last week in Holyrood I thanked the Courier for having performed what I believe what may be a great service to the people of the Highlands.
I refer to the hustings event which the Inverness Courier parent company Highland News and Media hosted and paid for.
This allowed members of the public to attend – not just SNP members. After all, the election was for the leadership of the party but also the leader of the country.
At the event, each of the three candidates gave clear and unequivocal support for dualling of the A9 and most of the need to dual the A96 too.
All supported the dualling of the section of the A96 from Smithton to Auldearn, including the Nairn bypass.
In fact, what was particularly significant was that Humza Yousaf made it clear this was a priority for him from the very start and that the funding must be found.
By the time you read this, we will know the outcome of that election.
But whatever the outcome, the fact that all three of the candidates have given in public such clear pledges means that there can be no more failure to deliver.
Short of signing in blood, the promises could not have been clearer.
So in my speech last week on the A9 I gave a big thanks to the Courier, and a heartfelt one.
At the end of the day, I was elected not by my party but the readers of this paper and my constituents.
My duty is clear whatever the outcome of the leadership election. I must continue to press for delivery of our promises, and that I shall do.
I said that my party is “in the last chance saloon” and meant it.
The real barrier to delivery may be in finding and prioritising the funds.
That means that a very large share of the capital budget for each year from 2025 to the end of this decade must be devoted to making our roads in the Highlands safer and thus saving lives as well as improving the daily life of many people.
The only obstacle I can see in the way of this lies in the obdurate opposition from the Green Party and the fact that we have a cooperation deal with them. Mr Yousaf spoke of this arrangement almost in loving terms – something which I do not think is a view shared by many of my constituents, certainly not those who wish to see the A9 dualled.
So we shall see what follows. But if we do finally begin to make real progress on the A9, the thanks will be in considerable measure due to this newspaper.
