Fergus Ewing: If the First Minister cannot deliver A9 dualling then ‘he must consider his position’
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If “the First Minister cannot deliver, he must consider his position” according to Fergus Ewing who was speaking after The Inverness Courier’s A9 Crisis Summit.
Earlier in the day, he confirmed that if serious progress is not made in the next 12 months then he will not “continue to support this government” and if the SNP fails again “then, frankly, I don’t think we deserve to continue to be in government.”
The Inverness and Nairn MSP did not let himself off the hook, admitting there was “no excuse” while observing collective ministerial responsibility for 14 years, adding “I can only say that my shame is that we haven't made more progress.”
Mr Ewing had demanded that three points are comprehensively and clearly addressed – first was a revised deadline to finish the whole dualling programme.
The second, a change to the contract offered by Transport Scotland to encourage more tenders and finally the “political will” to complete the dualling.
The summit took place earlier with transport secretary Mairi McAllan, Transport Scotland's Alison Irvine and Rob Galbraith, Colin Marr from the Inverness Chamber of Commerie and Laura Hansler from A9 Dual Action group.
We must deliver
Speaking afterwards, Mr Ewing said: “Well, I was grateful for the cabinet secretary appearing today, but I'm afraid to say that there weren't specific guarantees to the questions that were asked.
“There was no specific assurance that she will, in parliament, in the statement give a completion date by which the A9 must be dualled
“Secondly, there was no clear commitment to give in her statement a clear detailed schedule of when each of the remaining nine sections will be completed.
“And thirdly, there was no absolute guarantee that the money will be spent in the Highlands as opposed to in the Central Belt.
“So what I'm saying today is that, for me, for the cabinet secretary, for the First Minister – we must deliver.
“This is a matter of honour. It's a cast iron guarantee and quite frankly, if the First Minister cannot deliver, he must consider his position.”
Shame and no excuses
Mr Ewing believes, as someone who says he has campaigned for the dualling of the A9 since before the transport secretary Mairi McAllan was born, that the issue was something rare in politics – “matter of life and death”.
He said: “Every single one of the people who have lost their lives – 349 people I think on the A9 over the years – has had their life truncated, it's been caught short and that every single case is left behind the devastation of misery and grief in every single family.
“So this is a matter of life and death, which is unusual in politics. It's of the utmost importance that we dual the A9 and I have campaigned for it for far too long.
"I'm afraid to say I can only say that my shame is that we haven't made more progress. There's no point in beating about the bush or giving a spin or excuses and I am not going to do that today.
"I never had, as a minister for 14 years, the responsibility for this matter at all. And when you're a minister you deal with your own job which is usually more than enough to go with.
"But that's no excuse – I don't shirk my responsibility, my collective responsibility, which I observed as a minister for 14 years.
"But since I've been unleashed by the former First Minister from ministerial office I have, however, sought to make it absolutely clear as your representative, as your voice in Holyrood that this work must now be completed, simple as that."
If the SNP fails again then it does not 'deserve' to stay in government
The veteran MSP was applauded for slamming what he called the "malign" influence of the Greens as potentially sapping the political will to conclude the dualling.
He said: "And I can't forbear to say that there is concern that the influence of the Greens in government is malign and even that the Green tail is wagging the dog. Let's show them who’s boss.
"And if the First Minister says it's a ‘cast iron guarantee’ then there must be a plan. How could there not be a plan? If you have a cast-iron guarantee you need a plan and you need to persuade people that you mean it, and you believe it and you are going to ascribe the money.
“The rest of Scotland has seen excellent progress – the Forth Crossing for Fife, the Borders railway for the Borders, the motorways for Glasgow, the peripheral road for Aberdeen, and Edinburgh – god help them – chose the trams.
“They have had their major improvement – now it is the Highlands turn.
“For me this is a matter of honour, I will not stand here in a year’s time and continue to support this government unless they deliver and deliver quickly on all of those three things.
“And if they don’t do that then, frankly, I don’t think we deserve to continue to be in government.”
