A former SNP government minister claimed he will eat his hat if Nicola Sturgeon meets the deadline to fully upgrade the A9 Perth-Inverness road.
Fergus Ewing said colleagues in the government owe an apology for how long it has taken to dual the notorious road.
Government agency Transport Scotland still lists the road for completion by 2025 on its website, despite only two of 11 sections dualled so far.
In Holyrood on Thursday, Mr Ewing said the government will not achieve this target date and they need to come clean with the public on this.
Highlanders need an apology
He said: “Even now the Transport Scotland website says the dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness will be completed by 2025.
“If that happens I will go out and purchase a hat to eat it.”
He asked: “Do we not owe an apology to the people of the Highlands and Scotland?”
Transport Secretary Michael Matheson told Mr Ewing the coronavirus pandemic and inflation has “significantly” impacted the dualling programme.
The debate in parliament focused on the section between the Pass of Birnam and Tay Crossing.
Thirteen people died in crashes on the road in 2022 and almost 4,000 people signed a petition to push the government to speed up with the dualling plans.
Perthshire Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser demanded finalised design for this section of the road will be published.
Mr Matheson said this section is particularly “challenging” but they were working closely with the community in Dunkeld and Birnam to make sure it was done right.
The transport secretary said: “An announcement on a preferred route is to be made in the coming months, and then the preferred option will be further refined, developed and assessed before commencement.”
Speaking after the debate Mr Fraser said: “It is obvious the actual construction on this part of the A9 will be years away.
“It shows the depth of feeling, and frustration, on a lack of clarity on dualling when the SNP’s Fergus Ewing MSP tells the cabinet secretary he will buy a hat and eat it if the SNP target of completing the whole dualling by 2025 is achieved.
“People have waited long enough for concrete answers on this.”
