SNP politicians faced criticism after dismissing a £172.7million Westminster cash injection for projects across Scotland as a “direct attack” on democracy.
The UK government last month announced £250,000 of funding last month to Rannoch Community Trust in Highland Perthshire to develop a local hub.
Tories insisted opposition to a fund that was also delivering £20m investments for a new Aberdeen Market and a revamp of Inverness Castle was “completely laughable”, and should make Nationalist ministers “ashamed”.
A further £219,000 went towards renewing The Old Forge pub on Knoydart.
The UK Government’s so-called Levelling Up and Shared Prosperity funds have been described by the SNP as falling “well short of Scottish expectations and needs”, while also “infringing on the sovereignty of Holyrood” by bypassing the devolved parliament.
SNP MSPs criticised the process during a Scottish Government-sponsored debate on Thursday.
Michelle Thomson, who represents Falkirk East, said: “How on Earth can a so-called Levelling Up Fund that ignores data for Scotland, based on criteria determined by England’s Ministry for Housing that ignores the economic and other policies enacted by this Scottish Parliament, be seen as anything other than a direct attack on the democratic institutions and rights of the Scottish people?”
‘Sold out’
Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian Martin complained the north-east had been “sold out”.
She said: “Despite the huge tax revenues that my area has sent to the UK Treasury over many decades, Aberdeenshire has been put into the lowest funding tier possible by the UK Government’s new funding scheme.”
But former Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie claimed the SNP had made a “tactical blunder” by tabling a motion which allowed Tory MSPs to reel off a list of local projects that were benefitting from the cash.
Douglas Lumsden, Conservative MSP for the north-east, said: “The Levelling Up initiative from the UK Government is devolution in its purest sense – empowering our communities, delivering local projects and funding our local authorities to build back better after Covid-19.”
‘Laughable’
He added: “Frankly it’s laughable to hear the SNP accuse the UK Government of too much centralisation.”
Meanwhile, Rhoda Grant, Labour MSP for the Highlands and Islands, said neither government was doing enough to help rural areas.
“We must also tackle regional disparities. The cost of living in rural areas is significantly higher than those in urban areas,” she said.
“Regional inequality across Scotland is not currently being sufficiently addressed by either an investment from the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund or the Scottish Government.”