DOUGLAS Ross has set out his party’s campaign for a fair share of funding for the North East – warning communities have been short-changed by the SNP Government.
The Scottish Conservatives have drawn up a mini-manifesto for the North East – focusing on improved funding for local councils and rebuilding the economy as Scotland emerges from the pandemic.
The Tories have also revealed figures showing that over a five-year period in the lead-up to the pandemic, businesses in the North East paid £91 million more in business rates than the area got back from the SNP Government.
Mr Ross’s blueprint includes setting up a new North East enterprise agency, helped by £1 billion over the next decade, upgrading key roads including dualling the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness and improving the A90 at Laurencekirk and Ellon.
READ MORE: Douglas Ross confirms plan to be 'double-jobbing' MP and MSP
The Conservatives want to push forward plans to reopen local railways, like the Formartine and Buchan Railway and Brechin and Newtonhill stations, if they will drive local economic growth.
The party are also stressing a need to improve broadband and mobile phone signal by rollout our full fibre broadband across Scotland by 2027. Mr Ross revealed his strategy at an event in Aberdeen after visiting a local business.
The plans also shine a light on an emphasis on protecting local services in the North East from centralisation – pointing to reopening the Mulberry Unit at Stracathro and protecting minor injury units from being shut.
Mr Ross is also backing a bid for a freeport to be established in the North East and investment in port and harbour infrastructure across the region.
He said: “The North East has long been the engine for the Scottish economy but the SNP Government doesn’t give it the attention it deserves.
“We will fight for the fair share that the North East isn’t getting from the SNP. Our local services have been underfunded and infrastructure has been left without the necessary investment.
READ MORE: Douglas Ross urges voters to 'rediscover the Better Together spirit'
“Our North East manifesto pledges would create new jobs and invest in the economy, deliver a fair deal for local councils, and upgrade local roads and railways.
“The Scottish Conservatives want to restore power to local communities and reverse the centralisation we’ve seen under 14 years of the SNP.”
Mr Ross added: “Businesses get a raw deal all over the country from the SNP but it’s even more acute in the North East, where the taxes raised from local businesses don’t find their way back to local services.
“Covid has hit all of Scotland hard but the collapse in oil prices has meant a double blow for the North East.
“We are the only party committed to securing oil and gas industry jobs, shown by the Conservative UK Government’s announcement this week of a £16 billion North Sea Transition Deal to safeguard jobs and help develop the energy solutions of the future.
“A vote for the Scottish Conservatives is a vote to choose rebuilding Scotland and getting a fair share for the North East, instead of the SNP’s plans to wreck our economic recovery with a reckless referendum.”
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