A TORY MSP has been called out for “trying to rewrite history” after he attempted to lay the blame for the hundreds of millions spent on building tram lines in Edinburgh at the feet of the SNP.
The tram construction project was pushed through the Scottish Parliament in 2007 when all the opposition parties – the Tories, Labour, LibDems, and Greens – united to force the minority SNP government not to ditch the Labour proposals.
The government, then led by Alex Salmond, said it would not provide funding beyond the £500 million which MSPs had committed, but total costs for the project by the time trams finally started running in 2014 sat at £776m.
An inquiry into the handling of the trams project is due to publish its report in the near future, with officials saying it had been sent to the printers in late April.
Russell Findlay, a Tory MSP from the West Scotland list, looked to attack the SNP over the issue.
🔻Ex-judge Lord Hardie has spent NINE YEARS conducting an inquiry into the SNP's Edinburgh tram scandal. 🔻The trams cost £776m. The inquiry another £14m. Hardie's report was 'sent to the printers' on April 26, so where is it?https://t.co/49wIkyB9sR
— Russell Findlay (@RussellFindlay1) May 30, 2023
“Ex-judge Lord Hardie has spent NINE YEARS conducting an inquiry into the SNP's Edinburgh tram scandal,” he wrote.
“The trams cost £776m. The inquiry another £14m. Hardie's report was 'sent to the printers' on April 26, so where is it?”
The Scottish Tories’ official account reshared the post – but SNP politicians were quick to point out that their party had opposed the project from the outset.
The SNP’s depute leader, Keith Brown called Findlay “embarrassingly ill-informed”, adding it was a “Better Together trio” that had driven the project forward “in the teeth of SNP opposition”.
The BBC article which Findlay had shared made this clear. It reported: “When the SNP minority government was elected in 2007, it planned to scrap the project.
“But that decision was overturned when the other parties in the Scottish Parliament voted in favour of pressing ahead.”
Other SNP figures also hit out at Findlay’s attempt to pin the blame for the spiralling costs on their party.
There is absolutely nothing they would try and pin on the SNP. The trams project was bulldozed through by the better together parties to spite the minority SNP Government. Tories now trying to rewrite history. https://t.co/ESQIGFTiyP
— Pete Wishart (@PeteWishart) May 30, 2023
Pete Wishart, the MP for Perth and North Perthshire, wrote: “There is absolutely nothing they [wouldn't] try and pin on the SNP. The trams project was bulldozed through by the Better Together parties to spite the minority SNP government. Tories now trying to rewrite history.”
SNP Culture Minister Christina McKelvie added: “He means the Labour-Tory-LibDem trams. I remember voting against this project as did all my SNP MSP colleagues at the time!”
And Jim Fairlie MSP wrote: “Maybe Russell didn’t realise it was in fact a pact of his colleagues of all colours who rammed the continuation of the project through parliament.
“Or maybe it’s usual Tory hypocrisy.”
The Scottish Tories have been asked for comment.
