Russell Findlay on the election campaign trail amongst farmers.
by Bill Heaney
The Scottish Conservatives will today (Wednesday) publish a dedicated rural manifesto designed to end two decades of SNP neglect.
Leader Russell Findlay, rural affairs spokesman Tim Eagle, and a host of North East candidates at a farm to launch the party’s plans formally.
Findlay says that the “common-sense” policies will grow the rural economy, protect key local services, and stand up for the interests of rural Scotland, which has been “shamefully abandoned” by the SNP.
Included in the rural manifesto are proposals to:
- Establish Scottish Business Zones in rural areas to attract jobs and investment
- Establish re-population zones to lure back those who have left depopulated areas
- Commit to multi-annual funding for the farming and fishing industries
- Boost the rural budget by at least £50million above inflation to reverse years of SNP cuts
- Improve digital connectivity in rural Scotland
- Upgrade or dual key rural roads such as the A9, A96, A75, and A83
- Create a dedicated rural bus fund to stop more bus routes from being axed
- Give rural health boards a fair funding deal
- Introduce a rural crime bill at the start of the next Parliament
Findlay added that the Scottish Conservatives are the only party to have consistently stood up for rural communities, while the others don’t understand or care about them. That includes Reform, who have proposed dispersing asylum seekers from cities to camps in rural Scotland.
Tim Eagle says if the SNP wins a majority in May’s election, then the interests of rural Scotland will once again be “put at the bottom of the pile”.
Russell Findlay said: “Our dedicated rural manifesto is full of common-sense policies that will reverse two decades of SNP neglect.
“These communities have been shamefully abandoned by Central-Belt-obsessed SNP ministers who have repeatedly attacked the rural way of life.
“Years of SNP cuts mean rural communities are being forced to pay more in tax, while getting less in the way of local services.
“That situation is unsustainable. If it continues, we will only see more and more people leave rural Scotland for opportunities elsewhere.
“The Scottish Conservatives are the only party at Holyrood that has consistently stood against the SNP’s anti-rural agenda.
“The other parties don’t understand or care about those who live outside our towns and cities – and that includes Reform, who are proposing to disperse asylum seekers from urban areas to rural camps without any recognition of the toll this would have on overstretched services.
“Voters should back the Scottish Conservatives on their peach ballot paper to help stop an SNP majority and ensure rural communities have their voice heard in parliament.”
Scottish Conservative rural affairs spokesman Tim Eagle said: “As a farmer, I have seen first hand the deeply damaging impact of the SNP’s failure to support rural Scotland.
“Our communities have been an afterthought for the Nationalists, and local people are sick and tired of politicians who are wildly out of touch with the reality they face.
“The Scottish Conservatives’ bold plans show we are listening to rural Scotland and can deliver the positive changes they are desperate to see.
“If the SNP win the election, the interests of rural Scotland will once again be at the bottom of the pile, which is why you must use your peach ballot to vote for the Scottish Conservatives to stop an SNP majority.”
Top of the page picture is of sheep farming in Glen Fruin between Dunbartonshire and Argyll.