Commenting on the SNP/Green government’s latest Programme for Government, Scottish Conservative Deputy Rural Economy and Islands Spokesman and Highlands and Islands MSP, Jamie Halcro Johnston, said:
"The First Minister's programme for government was long but with little substance and nothing new for the Highlands and Islands.
"He made the same old promises on the A9 that the SNP have been making and failing to deliver for over a decade. And he still couldn’t say, when challenged, when the dualling would be completed.
"He proudly listed the already ordered but significantly delayed CalMac boats many of our west coast communities have been left waiting years for. But there was nothing on the growing crisis facing our ferry fleet and no replacement strategy for the boats operated by local authorities in Orkney, Shetland and Highland.
“And while he claimed to be doing more for rural housing, he failed to mention that the Scottish Government has failed to fully use the existing Rural or Island housing funds, leaving millions of pounds sitting in government coffers in Edinburgh.
“Humza Yousaf is like every previous SNP leader – he talks a big game, but fails to deliver on the pitch. He and his Scottish Government colleagues have become used to failing to deliver on their promises.
“The SNP have made their priorities clear – and that’s not the Highlands and Islands. This nationalist government has put rural Scotland and our islands on the back burner”.
