Can Swinney swing it and harmonise divided Holyrood?

During his inaugural speech as first minister earlier this week, John Swinney said: “If we want to change people’s lives for the better, we have to work together to do so.” Scotland’s new leader made a point of saying that the country’s Parliament is “intensely polarised” and “not the collaborative place it has been in the past”. So, a couple of days later, when pushed by Fergus Ewing to sit down with a cross-party delegation of MSPs about the massively delayed A9 dualling project, Mr Swinney couldn’t very well turn around and decline, could he? The new FM agreed to the meeting, insisting that the Scottish Government is committed to dualling the disastrously dangerous road between Perth and Inverness. It’s a manifesto pledge Mr Swinney was around for the first time, when the SNP gained power. Seventeen years later, and yet another life has just been lost on the A9: a 42-year-old woman sadly died on Monday following a crash at Slochd in the Highlands.

In close to two decades, the SNP has made little progress on the simple issue of taking sensible steps to make a busy, vital route with a high accident and fatality rate safer. A partnership with the Scottish Greens during the ill-fated Bute House Agreement era was essentially a leap backward for the dualling plans, as environmental concerns stalled progress even further. Nonetheless, John Swinney still appears optimistic about the prospect of civil collaboration with other parties. And there is no denying that, Greens aside, over the years north and north-east politicians wearing rosettes of all colours have called for the Scottish Government to finally fulfil its A9upgrade promises. There is a clear incentive for co-operation here, and making swift progress on this issue would result in several benefits for First Minister Swinney.

Bringing some harmony to “intensely polarised” Holyrood would cement him as the first leader there for some time to encourage productive peace rather than dramatic division. Investing time and energy in a significant improvement project north of the Central Belt would go a long way towards pleasing the public in this part of the world, perhaps winning or even winning back votes for upcoming elections. Above all, finally taking discernible action on improving the A9 would undoubtedly save lives and reduce the likelihood of serious, lasting injuries. As Alex Salmond told a Holyrood committee this week, the Scottish Government’s reasons for dragging its feet are nothing more than “excuses”. John Swinney and his cabinet, including Highland MSP Kate Forbes, have an opportunity to do the right thing; let’s hope they take it.