Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross will today (Sunday) accuse the SNP Government of presiding over a “forgotten Scotland” in which the interests of those who live outside the M8 corridor are ignored.
In his keynote speech to the Scottish fringe at Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, the Moray MP will highlight the poorer transport links and broadband experienced by those Scots who live outside the Central Belt.
Douglas Ross will tell delegates that the SNP’s failure to upgrade the dangerous A9 would never have been tolerated in relation to the M8.
He will add that Humza Yousaf “only thinks of his own backyard” and that the rest of Scotland is being left behind by his government which is incompetent, focused on the wrong priorities and obsessed with independence.
Scottish Conservative Leader Douglas Ross will say: “In every part of Scotland there are people who have been forgotten by this SNP Government over 16 years.
“Forgotten as the SNP have focused on the wrong priorities for Scotland, forgotten through incompetence and negligence, forgotten in the SNP’s obsession with independence.
“Humza Yousaf only thinks of his own backyard. He doesn’t do anything for the rest of Scotland
“If you live outside of the Central Belt, if you live far away from the M8, then the roads that you travel on will be worse.
“Rail services will be infrequent and digital broadband slower.
“And that is before we even get onto the unreliable ferry services to Scotland’s islands.
“Not only does poor infrastructure hold so many parts of our country back, but it also further entrenches the idea that they have been left behind.
“A feeling that is strengthened by the fact that the SNP Government have gone back on so many of their promises on roads.
“Upgrades to the A9 promised since 2007 have still not even got a completion date.
“Last year, deaths on that road reached the highest level in 12 years – and deaths on the section still to be upgraded were three times higher than on the already dualled sections.
“There is no way that a similar situation would be tolerated on the M8.
“Yet because it concerns the north of the country it is repeatedly moved down the priority list.”