A9 dualling fiasco perfectly encapsulates how ridiculous SNP and Greens truly are


The Scottish Government’s long, drawn-out attempts to dual the A9 between Perth and Inverness – first announced in 2007, currently expected to be complete by about 2035 – has turned it into an icon of the SNP’s incompetence, poor governance and shocking inability to keep their promises.
This future of this scenic road, aka “the backbone of Scotland”, is also a fundamental test case of how Scotland will approach the task of our times: reducing carbon emissions to net-zero while simultaneously growing the economy.
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Hide AdThere are some, mainly on the populist right and left, who appear to view these two aims as entirely incompatible. Nigel Farage’s Reform party wants to abolish ‘net zero’; while some hard-left Greens appear committed to abolishing economic growth. In the la-la-land of populist politics, reality doesn’t really matter and you can simply imagine into being a paradise of agrarian collectives or whatever vision of hell Farage likes to conjure up at night.
In the real world, the negative growth experienced during recessions results in poverty and hardship, while any debate over climate change has long since ended with scientists’ past predictions confirmed by the passage of time. The goal, therefore, has to be to pursue ‘green growth’ and become a leader of what is already a new Industrial Revolution by embracing emerging technologies. To do that, we first of all need competent political leadership.


Long list of failures and excuses
Unfortunately, the already obvious failure to dual the A9 by the expected date of next year is not the SNP’s only missed target or failed policy. There are also the two ferries ordered in 2015 but still not in service; the deposit return recycling scheme; the poverty-related educational attainment gap; highly protected marine areas; gender recognition reform; and Scotland’s world-leading but missed climate targets.
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Hide AdThe SNP has its excuses why each of these plans went awry, but the bottom line is that the buck stops with them. Regardless of the merits of the policies themselves, a government that can’t do what it sets out to do is a failing government. Trusting such a government with the mammoth task of reshaping our economy into a net-zero one successfully – or indeed turning Scotland into an independent nation – would be a serious mistake.
But at least the SNP agrees the A9 should be a dual carriageway, even if they are struggling to make it happen. With an estimated cost of £3 billion, it would reduce journey times between Perth and Inverness by 20 per cent. The estimated economic effects would also outweigh the costs, returning £1.12 for every pound spent by the Scottish Government, although admittedly this includes a slightly nebulous-sounding valuation of £430 million for a reduction in ‘driver frustration’.
Making roads safer
In contrast to their fellow nationalists, many Scottish Greens appear opposed to any kind of road building, with MSP Maggie Chapman claiming that it is “a subsidy for wealthy, usually white men who are the main beneficiaries of reducing journey times between cities”.
Even if Scotland roads had been magically transported back to the 1950s, improving journey times would still be a good thing to do, given the economic benefits of better transport links and the improved safety of dual carriageways for all road users, regardless of their gender.
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Hide AdBetween 2020 and 2023, inclusive, 199 out of 313 collisions and 15 out of 22 fatalities on the A9 took place on ‘non-dual’ sections of the road, according to Scottish Government figures released in July. The Scottish Conservatives have also cited figures showing 104 out of 144 road deaths on major trunk roads that go outside the Central Belt over the same period took place on non-dualled roads.
Of course, any construction project will have a carbon footprint. However, the important thing is to remember the target is ‘net-zero’ emissions, not ‘zero’. The benefits of a project like A9 dualling do need to be weighed against the negatives, which include the carbon cost, but there is a sensible balance to be struck.
Not a niche pursuit
By opposing road upgrades, Greens find themselves arguing against economic development and even saving people’s lives. They may think this is a price that has to be paid, but the vast majority of the population do not.
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Hide AdHumanity is failing in its efforts to stop global warming reaching dangerous levels, but mischaracterising efforts to decarbonise our economy as a niche pursuit for only those ideologically pure enough to accept such sacrifices will make things worse, not better.
The fight against climate change is so large that we have no other option but to make it a whole-society, or rather, a ‘whole-planet’, endeavour. Oil companies have acted abysmally on the climate crisis since the early 1980s, but we need them all the same. They should be persuaded, by a mix of carrot and stick, to gradually move from fossil fuels to renewable energy, in a planned, orderly way.
A roadmap to the future
In Scotland, we are blessed to have the chance to replace the jobs being lost in the North Sea’s dwindling oil fields with new ones in renewables, to become a world-leader in floating offshore wind generation and perhaps tidal energy.
However, such dreams will only be achieved if we have a government capable of creating the right kind of environment to make it happen – one that large corporations and investors will literally buy into – and widespread support from the public.
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Hide AdClimate change is not just a potentially existential threat to humanity. The knowledge that temperatures are rising and that we need to hit net-zero to stop this process before it gets out of control provides a roadmap towards the economy of the future. Every country, sooner or later, will be heading there.
For some Scottish Greens, that road is a slow, out-dated and dangerous one – out of choice. For the SNP, it’s the same, only out of incompetence. For Scotland, it should be a safe, modern, dual carriageway filled with electric vehicles heading towards a brighter future.
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