GLASGOW LABOUR MSPs HYPOCRISY ON EDINBURGH TRAMS

GLASGOW LABOUR MSPs HYPOCRISY ON EDINBURGH TRAMS

PARLIAMENTARY VOTE SHOWS LABOUR FAILURE TO REPRESENT SCOTLAND’S BIGGEST CITY

Glasgow SNP MSP Sandra White has rounded on the city’s Labour MSPs for hypocritically voting to pour millions into the Edinburgh Trams scheme despite warnings from the SNP Government that it would affect capital spending elsewhere in the country.

Mrs White highlighted the vote from 2007 to show how Glasgow Labour MSPs had failed the city and were now hypocritically complaining about the cancellation of the GARL link whose costs had spiralled from an estimated £8 million to £70 million.

Commenting Mrs White said:

“The hypocrisy of Glasgow’s Labour MSPs is astounding. They were warned in 2007 that they would be failing Glasgow if they voted for a project that was not even wanted by people in Edinburgh, but which would impact on capital spending throughout the rest of Scotland.

“The vote from 2007 exposes their current crocodile tears on GARL. Glasgow’s Labour MSPs – along with the Tories and Lib Dems – are the ones who voted for Edinburgh trams in 2007, and it is their government in London which is putting the squeeze on public spending. The Edinburgh trams votes shows the failure of Glasgow’s Labour MSPs to properly represent Scotland’s biggest city.

“Labour’s attacks are also hollow when it is pointed out that Glasgow – quite rightly because of the issues facing the city – receives the most local government spending per head of any mainland council under an SNP Government.

"I met with BAA last week and it became clear to me that the costs at the airport were increasing dramatically, making GARL no longer sustainable given Westminster's cuts in Scotland's capital budget.

"With one piece of work to move the fuel dump at the airport ballooning from £8 million to £70 million, and the overall cost of the project more than doubling, the viability of GARL has unfortunately been called into question. The very last thing Glasgow needed was an Edinburgh trams fiasco. Just ask the residents of Edinburgh how popular trams are there?

"Investing in Fastlink will fill in the missing links within Glasgow that leave many areas of the city without effective public transport and the city centre gridlocked. In connecting up the city, this will be to the benefit of the people of the city.”