Excuses from the SNP government over delays to dual the A9 on time are “pathetic”, Alex Salmond told MSPs probing the long overdue project he first promised in 2008.
The former first minister condemned years of hold-ups on Wednesday in front of a Holyrood committee examining the failure to dual between Perth and Inverness by 2025.
It was Mr Salmond’s government who made the promise to upgrade the route 16 years ago at a cabinet meeting in Inverness and later in the party’s 2011 manifesto.
He told MSPs he believes the project became less of a priority after he resigned as first minister in 2014 and claimed “everything was on schedule” before then.
Mr Salmond described the “excuses” offered by the SNP government for the delays – including inflation and the war in Ukraine – as “pathetic”.
Inflation, Ukraine and a pandemic
The SNP announced in December that the project will not be completed until 2035 – a decade later than promised.
On construction inflation, he said: “I’m afraid that’s part of the slings and arrows of doing anything.”
Mr Salmond continued: “I don’t think war is an acceptable reason. Again, that’s part of the impact on inflation.
“The only excuse that carries any weight is the pandemic.
“If this committee was considering a two-year delay in the A9 commitment, I think the government would have an effective alibi by saying they lost two years in the pandemic.
“But otherwise, I think the excuses are pathetic.”
He told the committee there was a change in priorities after 2014 and it became “less of an overriding commitment”.
Mr Salmond added: “I’m not saying people wouldn’t have wanted to do it but other things must have impinged on the capital budget.”
The former first minister claimed “everything was on schedule” between the manifesto commitment in 2011 and when he resigned in 2014.
And said that then infrastructure secretary Alex Neil would have advised him “straight away” if it wasn’t”, he added.
Swinney first raised alarm over costs
But we previously revealed that John Swinney, sworn in as first minister on Wednesday, raised alarm over the costs in 2008 while finance secretary.
This was on the very same day Mr Salmond made the landmark roads pledge in Inverness on August 8, 2008.
Minutes from the meeting show that Mr Swinney warned how challenging the promise would be to fulfil in engineering terms and would be “hugely expensive”.
Mr Salmond told MSPs he hopes the new first minister will be “anxious to redeem the commitment” to dualling he agreed as part of cabinet in 2008.
He added: “Because it’s a matter of principle, integrity, of honour and I’m sure that John will seek to redeem it as quickly as possible.”
Mr Salmond’s successor, Nicola Sturgeon, is expected to answer questions before the A9 inquiry on May 29.
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