John Cooper, the Tory MP for Dumfries and Galloway, demanded the UK Government dismiss concerns that Westminster seeking to improve the A75 amounted to a London “power grab”.
The route is a vital link between Northern Ireland, Scotland and England as it is the main route to get to the ferry ports at Cairnryan.
Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate on Wednesday afternoon, the Tory MP claimed the Scottish Government had shown “supreme indifference” to improving the route, despite the SNP’s past pledges under Alex Salmond to upgrade the route.
(Image: Laurie Noble/UK Parliament)
Cooper (above) raised concerns about the safety of the route and its reliability, which were echoed in the debate by MPs from Northern Ireland.
He accused the SNP of previously stymying efforts by the Tories when they were in power to look at ways of improving the road.
Cooper said: “They complained that the UK Government even looking at the A75 was a power grab, alleging we were trampling on devolution by even launching a connectivity review.”
This meant that Lord Hendy, who led the Union Connectivity Review, had to investigate the route using Google Streetview, Cooper claimed.
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Cooper said the UK Government had a responsibility from both a safety and economic perspective to improve the road.
He added: “The current mode of this government is to devolve and forget, to throw a block grant up north to Edinburgh and to then wash their hands of the matter. This is not what devolution is about.
“The A75 is a classic example of where the UK Government ought to act in the best interests of the people of Britain and not allow devolution to be an excuse for inaction. Livelihoods and indeed lives are truly at risk here.”
(Image: Labour)
Scotland Office minister Kirsty McNeill (above) replied that the government “respects the devolution settlement and is firmly committed to working with the Scottish Government to deliver shared transport priorities”.
She added that the Chancellor had confirmed funding for Transport Scotland to improve the A75 and that the Scottish Government has committed to a feasibility study to improvements including bypassing the small villages it currently passes through in Scotland.