‘Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn’ – Fergus Ewing unafraid of SNP whip as he is ready to fight for Nairn Bypass
Fergus Ewing is once again on the warpath as he says he is ready to defy the SNP whip if John Swinney’s government does not deliver a timeline to complete the Nairn bypass by the end of 2024.
Speaking at The Inverness Courier’s Build the Bypass event with transport secretary Fiona Hyslop, Mr Ewing who has already been suspended by the SNP for rebelling warned the government that “‘I know what I have got to do”.
He set the tone for the debate with the Inverness and Nairn MSP demanding a timeline before the end of the year and for Transport Scotland to seriously consider doing the bypass first – before dualling the rest of road to Inverness.
That would help alleviate the chronic congestion in the town, something acknowledged by transport secretary Fiona Hyslop, when she said she understood what it meant when a “trunk road cut through the centre of the town”.
Mr Ewing said: “Last summer, the Courier also hosted a similar event in Inverness about dualling the A9 and frankly I wasn’t really satisfied there with what I heard so I said that unless Humza Yousaf made a detailed plan – in other words, when it would happen – he should resign as First Minister.
“That was kind of a hard thing to do, it wasn’t part of the party’s script but I haven’t been using the party’s script recently and I think it is a point of shame that – and I make no bones about it – we promised it and we haven’t delivered.
“And I think more candour when one has broken promises is in order. Having said that, I do believe that Fiona Hyslop is personally committed to this scheme, she has indicated she wants to see progress from the made orders.
“But I don’t think that is enough and I wanted to make two points. First of all I don’t think money is the problem and the reason is that the Scottish capital budget has been reduced a wee bit but there is still £4000 to £5000 million a year.
“In any event, the bypass will not start this year because procurement can take a long time, that is a fact. So we are not talking about this year’s budget, we are talking about budgets over the next 10 years.
“Though I think the Nairn Bypass must be delivered long before then.
“The second point, is that I called on the Scottish Government and I said this in the [Holyrood] chamber time and again – and I have been disciplined by my party for speaking out in parliament and if that happen again, well, as Rhett Butler said to Scarlett O’Hara: ‘Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn’.”
Mentioning MSPs present like Rhoda Grant, Tim Eagle and local Liberal Democrat candidate Neil Alexander back the bypass, he continued: “The point is there is cross-party support.
“I don’t think the Greens would ever choose me as spokesman but I think even they are for the bypass and that is a good thing when you have everyone supporting it the question does not become whether, it becomes how and when.
“And I think what we must have is an announcement before the end of the year about the timetable for when work on the bypass will start and when it will finish.
“And secondly, I think there should be consideration to dividing up the whole project not changing the route – that would add 12 years – but dividing it up into smaller sections so that the Nairn Bypass could be done first.”
Concluding, he said: “So a clear timetable for the end of the year and serious consideration to the putting the Nairn bypass first.”
