Improved travel links at heart of Conservatives’ recovery agenda
● New Scottish Tory leader Ross lays out alternative vision with package including a huge investment in infrastructure
announcement as party leader, Mr Ross will today push for greater spending on infrastructure as he formally unveils his own plan to boost the economy.
He said: “The programme for government this week must focus on how we recover from this crisis, protect jobs and rebuild Scotland’s economy from the brink.
“It should be a programme to invest in infrastructure and connect communities across the country, leaving nowhere behind.”
The Tories will call for a fully integrated t ran sportsystem, with an Oyster card-like payment method that would work across all public transport networks, as well as faster rail links between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and Aberdeen and Inverness connections with the central belt.
A three-lane M8 would also be created, along with a tourism infrastructure fund to improve travel for tourists and protect local roads in rural Scotland outside the central belt.
Mr Ross added that improving travel links would result in Scotland being brought “closer together”.
He said: “Scotland has been too divided for too long, not only constitutionally but economically too. We need a massive acceleration of infrastructure projects to bring people across Scotland closer together.
“These proposals would better-connect businesses across the country and boost productivity, delivering more money for public services and bringing more high-quality jobs to towns and cities that often get overlooked in favour of Edinburgh.”
The plan would also see the creation of a so-called Scottish Dynamo, similar to the Northern Powerhouse and the Midlands Engine in England, providing investment to Scottish infrastructure.
One of the key proposals would see a joint investment vehicle between the Scottish and UK governments to expand the investment cre - ated by city and growth deals nor th of the border – where both governments and local councils provide funding for major infrastructure projects.
The new Tory leader, added: “We need to take power back from the government in Edinburgh and put power in the hands of people and communities across Scotland.
“We can do that by making it just as easy and attractive for a business to set up in Inverness as in Glasgow.
“We need a long-term strategic vision but it must begin now. We can not wait any longer to plan a stronger Scottish economy. With both our governments pulling together, Scotland can build back better.”
With the virus being implicated in the deaths of as many as 4,222 S cots, according to National Records of Scotland, and the country officially in a recession, Ms Sturgeon made it clear that the legislative programme will take a more “radical” approach this year.
Ahead of announcing her legislative programme tomorrow, the First Minister said: “We have an opportunity, not simply to go back to how things were, but to address many of the deep-seated challenges our country faces. The programme for government 2020 -21 will be based on our determination to recover from this virus and deliver a fairer, greener and more prosperous Scotland for everyone.”
She added :“It’ s so important for us to continue to keep the virus under control. At the same time we must also look to the future, to think about how we can help people, businesses and communities recover from this pandemic. We cannot, and should not, let this virus define our futures.”
Meanwhile SNP deputy leader Keith Brown accused Mr Ross of “empty rhetoric” over his plans.
Mr Brown said: “The most useful thing the Scottish Tory leader could do is lobby his Westminster bosses to extend the furlough scheme before the loss of up to 200,000 Scottish jobs, demand a vital package of support for the millions of forgotten freelancers who have yet to receive a penny in support from the UK government and get behind SNP calls for support to those are forced to rely on UK welfare benefits.
“Or he could focus his attention on getting the UK Treasury to put its hand in the coffers and protect the Scottish economy from the impending disastrous impact of a Brexit future that Scotland didn’ t vote for.”
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has called for a range of measures to be included in this week’s programme.
He wants to see a the commitment to doubling free childcare to 1140 hours being introduced now after this was delayed for a year.
Mr Rennie is also calling for better support to local businesses whenever government imposes a local lock down, including grant support on day one. It comes after many firms hit by the lockdown in Aberdeen had to wait weeks for government support.
The Lib Dems also want to see action to help the millions excluded from existing sup - port schemes.
To say that there is a lot resting on the shoulders of the Scottish Conservatives’ new leader Douglas Ross is perhaps an understatement.
As if the fact that support for the Union has slumped to a record low in recent polling did not present enough of a challenge, his party’s government in Westminster is now contriving to throw away the goodwill of its own supporters through its repeated mishandling of the Covid-19 crisis.
Recent U-turns at Westminster on exam grades and the wearing of masks in schools appear to have compounded damage caused by the Dominic Cummings affair and previous public concern about PPE and care homes.
The latest opinion poll over the weekend placed the government neck-and-neck with Labour on 40 per cent each when voters were asked who they would support in a notional snap general election.
The last time that happened support for both parties was in freefall in the midst of last year’s Brexit crisis.
This is a desperately poor position from which to be planning a campaign to lead the party into next year’s critical Holyrood election.
If an SNP majority at this stage seems inevitable, the scale of any Nationalist victory will play a large part in shaping the inevitable battle over a second independence referendum.
The only way in which the Conservatives can avoid a devastating defeat next May in Holyrood is to start building a clear and positive message about the benefits to Scotland of remaining a part of the United Kingdom.
Despite the dangers of a no-deal Brexit in all but name, the party still has a strong case to make if it can find the ways to articulate it with an authentic Scottish voice.
Today’s announcement of a blueprint for investing in our transport infrastructure over the next 30 years is a good start.
Many of the ideas in it are not new, but rather than being a weakness, that reflects an understanding of Scotland and its priorities.
We have been crying out for many years for better and more integrated transport between our major cities and in many of our rural communities.
A concrete demonstration that these concerns are being understood and responded to in Westminster will do far more for the Conservative cause in Scotland than any number of visits by the Prime Minister.