Next First Minister already under pressure over A9 and recycling scheme
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
As the search to find Nicola Sturgeon’s successor gets under way, the pressure is already on for them to make a “decisive” commitment to dualling the A9 and halting the deposit return scheme (DRS).
Failing to dual the A9 could prove devastating to the lives of Highlanders, while in the case of the DRS livelihoods and small local businesses are on the line.
A9 campaigner Laura Hansler: “I think there has to be some direct announcement towards dualling the A9 from the new First Minister,” adding: “We don’t have time for any more elastoplasts being flung at it.
“It is being discussed as part of the issue with Sturgeon leaving but certainly the dualling of the A9 went right back to the 2007 manifesto and it is the longest running promise by the Scottish government that hasn’t been delivered.
She added: “I think they must be kept to their promises.”
Outspoken Inverness and Nairn MSP Fergus Ewing made the same call, saying: “The first act of the next First Minister must immediately make a clear reaffirmation of our commitment to dual the A9 and the A96.
“In addition, a detailed statement setting out a revised timetable is required, more than that, I believe Transport Scotland need to work with the civil engineering sector in order to devise the right contract framework for securing these objectives.”
He also demanded an immediate halt to the deposit return scheme, saying in all his years as a MSP that he has never seen regulations with “so many defects – defects that cannot be fixed by August 16, if at all.”
“Businesses all over Scotland in every sector are crying out for the government to halt, pause and review the deposit return scheme,” he said.
“If this goes ahead it will push up prices for the poorest, it will decimate small businesses, and it will damage Scotland’s reputation as a place to do business.
“This week, I assembled support from Tory, Labour and LibDem MSPs – I hope the government will act swiftly to halt this disaster of scheme.”
Prominent local bar owner Don Lawson, owner of Johnny Foxes and chairman of Inverness Pubwatch said: “I think it’s all part of a wider strategy of the Scottish Government’s to return to the days of Prohibition.
"Hopefully now, after Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement, the SNP will be in disarray and will pause the DRS – or hopefully abandon it – and work in tandem with the UK government who plan to deliver a workable scheme in 2025.”
