SNP MSP says Scottish Government 'manifestly failed' on A9 dualling

The Scottish Government has "manifestly failed" to dual the A9, Fergus Ewing has said, as he urged the Transport Secretary to speed up the £3.7 billion project.

Quoting The Godfather during a debate in Holyrood, the veteran SNP MSP told Fiona Hyslop that dualling the road sooner than 2035 was "an offer she should not refuse".

Mr Ewing, the MSP for Inverness and Nairn, said he could not "elide myself from responsibility" from delays in the project, having previously been part of the Government.

The SNP promised in 2011 that the road would be dualled from Inverness to Perth by 2025. In 2023, then transport secretary Mairi McAllan announced that would be pushed back a decade.

Campaigners criticised the move and have warned that the road, which is dualled in some parts, is dangerous and a frequent cause of injuries and deaths.

Mr Ewing, the former rural economy and tourism secretary, has been a notable campaigner on the issue and critic of the Scottish Government.

He told MSPs on Thursday: "We have heard from many people across the chamber about the sad loss of life on the road, and I have lost friends, and it is devastating for every family involved.

"The tragedy doesn't just affect them for a short period but for their whole lives."

He added: "I do think, because the Scottish Government has so manifestly failed, and I was a part of it for a while, so although I was never responsible I can't elide myself from responsibility.

"And I say that in all candour. I did speak behind the scenes and tried to influence things but was unsuccessful.

"I obeyed the rules and didn't speak out. I think I may have made up for that in the past few years."

He told the Transport Secretary that "a little bit of humility" in response to requests to speed up the project "would have been seemly".

On Tuesday, plans to accelerate the dualling of the A9 were rejected by Transport Scotland amid concerns that it could have the opposite effect and delay the project.

Tory MSP Maurice Golden accused the Scottish Government of not being honest with the public about whether it could have met its initial deadline of 2025.

Pointing to Transport Scotland's claim that attempts to speed up the dualling could slow it down, he said: "This just further points to the degree in which the Scottish Government deceived the public by keeping up the pretence until two years ago that the project could be completed this year.

"And whether the Scottish Government is willing to accept this or not, either hanging on to the 2025 timeline for so long was an attempt (at) deceit or the revised immovable 2035 timeline is an attempt to deceive.

"So which one is it? Of course, it could be both. The Government have acted in bad faith for too long and going forward we can have no more deceit."

The Transport Secretary said the Government has made "good progress" on awarding contracts to dual parts of the road, including the Tomatin to Moy section.

Ms Hyslop told the chamber: "I believe the report we've put forward demonstrates that the plan established and published in December 2023 is robust and practical to undertake this large programme of work in the years ahead.

"We remain fully focused and committed to delivering what will be 50% of the A9 between Perth and Inverness dualled by the end of 2030, 85% by the end of 2033 and 100% by the end of 2035."

Ms Hyslop earlier said that work was expected to be completed on a £5 million package of "short-term measures" by March and that work to make the road safer for users would continue.

She added: "I want to reiterate my commitment to providing transparency and certainty on the progress of the A9 dualling programme as it moves forward in the months and years ahead."