Salmond’s warning to Swinney over potential continuing
ALEX Salmond has warned likely new first minister John Swinney he could pay the “heaviest of political prices” if key road-building projects, such as completing the dualling of the A9, are put on hold to appease the Scottish Greens.
Salmond spoke out as he prepared to give evidence to a Holyrood committee investigating delays to work to upgrade the A9 from Perth to Inverness to dual carriageway.
The former first minister is expected to express his “bitter disappointment that unacceptable lack of progress has been made on delivering a promise made to the people of the Highlands of Scotland by the Scottish Government”.
His comments came ahead of today’s close of SNP leadership nominations, with Mr Swinney likely to be the only candidate. He is thus expected to be voted in as Scotland’s seventh first minister later this week.
However, with the SNP not having a majority at Holyrood, he may still be forced to rely on the Scottish Greens for support.
During Salmond’s time as first minister, the Scottish Government had committed to fully dualling the stretch by 2025. But in December 2023, ministers admitted this was not achievable, saying it would be 2035 before the work could be completed.
Salmond said he had made a “firm commitment to complete the dualling of the A9 to Inverness by 2025 at a historic Cabinet meeting in Inverness Town House in 2008”.
Insisting that when he stepped down in 2014, the project was “on track for delivery”, he said that “like many essential projects, it was allowed to slip down the capital agenda with the eyes of the Scottish Government increasingly focused on niche policies of the Scottish Green Party”.
He said: “If I had not stood down as first minister, then I would have assured that the project would have been completed on the planned timescale. The Scottish Government I led had a track record of delivery.
“However, over the last 10 years, the SNP government has effectively turned its back on the Highlands, and failed to realise that investing in infrastructure is essential to growing Scotland’s economy.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We have set out the Scottish Government’s plans for