LABOUR HYPOCRISY ON WINTER ROAD SAFETY

LABOUR HYPOCRISY ON WINTER ROAD SAFETY

LABOUR’S CUT COULD HAVE CAUSED IMMENSE CHAOS

Commenting after this morning’s statement on the extreme winter conditions that have affected Scotland and the rest of the UK, Highlands & Islands SNP MSP Rob Gibson - a member of the Scottish Parliament's Transport Committee - attacked Labour’s attempts to politicise the issue and highlighted their hypocrisy since they had attempted to cut £10 million from the winter roads budget last year.

This morning Labour attempted to make inaccurate claims that there was shortage of funds to tackle the challenging conditions on Scotland’s roads and failed to praise the work of gritting squads who have worked throughout the Christmas and New Year period. Mr Gibson warned that Labour’s plans to cut £10 million a year from winter maintenance would have seriously damaged Scotland’s capacity to deal with the current cold weather.

As a Transport Committee Report from January 2008 shows Labour attempted to cut £10 million from last year’s budget, a further £10 million this year and another £10 million in the year ahead.

Commenting Mr Gibson said:

"Labour’s attempts at politicising this serious issue are as dodgy as all their claims and also highly hypocritical. It just shows how Labour has simply become the anti-SNP party and will go through the weirdest contortions to attack the SNP.

"At a time when local authorities and the Scottish Government are working together to keep roads clear it would have been Labour’s plans for a £10 million funding cut that would have had a disastrous impact.

“The last few weeks highlight the folly of Labour’s proposal to cut £10 million a year from the winter road maintenance fund.

"Shockingly this move was also backed by MSPs for some of the worst affected areas.

"Labour must make clear that they will not seek to make such inappropriate proposals again when this year’s budget comes to Parliament.

“It is gritting teams that have put a massive amount of effort into keeping the trunk roads clear and we should praise their hard work over the last few weeks.

"The Scottish Government’s increased investment in winter road maintenance has helped keep the network moving.”