Neil Gray must resign over Monklands ‘betrayal’, says former SNP minister

On Thursday the Scottish Government announced it was scrapping the £2.1 billion plans as they can no longer afford it. A new, cheaper plan will be brought forward next year.

Opposition parties say Mr Gray, who represents Airdrie and Shotts and until recently was the health secretary, was given “preferential treatment” during the election campaign as the party said the hospital replacement was still a priority.

Now Alex Neil, the former MSP for Airdrie and Shotts and a former health secretary himself, said: “Not only is this unacceptable, it is a hammer blow to one of the poorest communities in Scotland.

“During the election campaign when it became public knowledge that the Scottish Government had not approved the business plan for the new hospital presented to it by NHS Lanarkshire, I stated publicly that this was a clear sign that this project was now in doubt.

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“The SNP government issued a statement suggesting that this was not the case. Clearly that was a lie - they engaged in deception of the worst kind.”

Mr Neil said his experience of being health secretary means he is “absolutely sure” the government would have been aware of the estimated costs long before now, and should have redesigned the business plan to make sure it was still built by the 2032 deadline.

He added: “This decision is a hammer to the people of the Monklands and the rest of Lanarkshire.

“I am also sorry to say that my friend Neil Gray has no choice now but to resign from the Scottish Cabinet. Not to do so will totally undermine his position as the local MSP for Airdrie and Shotts.”

On Thursday Ms Constance, who took over from Mr Gray as health secretary five weeks ago, said the plans currently on the table “would not deliver value for money for the public purse”, throwing the planned opening date of 2031 into doubt.

She said: “I recognise this will be disappointing for staff and communities who have been engaging patiently for a number of years in the development of plans.

“However, having carefully considered the affordability of the full business case submitted by NHS Lanarkshire, I cannot approve it in its current form within our current financial landscape.

“The current proposal for Monklands is significantly more expensive than comparable programmes and would represent an unprecedented concentration of capital investment in a single health project.

“For context, that would be an estimated £5 million per bed to deliver.”

Ms Constance said this would be more expensive than building the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and the new HMP Glasgow.

While she assured MSPs core services such as A&E will be retained at Monklands Hospital in the meantime, she added: “This is not a decision I have taken lightly - we are fully committed to building a new hospital at Monklands.

“However, it is also my responsibility to ensure that major investment decisions are affordable, deliverable, and aligned with the future direction of our health and care system.”

This decision comes despite the SNP’s 2026 manifesto stating: “Work is already well underway on major capital projects including replacements for University Hospital Monklands.”