It seemed like an easy question until we asked John Swinney for a straight answer.
Why did Perthshire’s two SNP MSPs vote against a motion calling for the long-delayed dualling of the A9 to be treated as an urgent priority?
The deputy first minister’s Perthshire North constituency is cut in half by the route and many residents living in southern neighbour Jim Fairlie’s patch also use the road.
The £3 billion project will see improvements to the link from Perth to Inverness.
But Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth, a Fife MSP, recently confirmed an SNP promise to dual major sections of the road by 2025 will now not be met.
During a debate at Holyrood earlier this week, Inverness and Nairn MSP Fergus Ewing was the only SNP politician who ignored party enforcers to join criticism over the delay.
Serious safety implications
A Scottish Conservative motion stated the failure to deliver on the promise is a “betrayal” and pointed to the “vital importance” of the route to local communities.
It noted the “serious safety implications” of failing to see through the commitment.
The motion also called on the government to provide a specific date for when a revised timetable for the work will be published.
A Labour call for urgent progress was also voted down by the SNP.
Questions not addressed
The Courier asked Mr Swinney and Mr Farilie why they voted against the motions.
We also asked both MSPs for their thoughts on Mr Ewing’s position and why they did not take a similar stand on behalf of their own constituents.
Mr Fairlie did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr Swinney’s team initially provided a lengthy response that did not directly address any of the questions we asked.
But in a bizarre twist, after The Courier pressed for Mr Swinney to answer the points raised, his office refused to comment and asked to “withdraw” his earlier remarks.
No further explanation has been offered for the pair’s votes.
Warning of more deaths
There have been a total of 59 deaths on the A9 since 2011.
Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser said it is “striking” that no SNP MSP representing any of the affected areas was prepared to come to the chamber to “defend their government’s record on the A9”.
Mr Fraser was involved in a head-on collision in 1990 on a single carriageway stretch on the road near Carrbridge and spent weeks in hospital with multiple fractures.
He said: “I am afraid that there will be more deaths this year, next year and every year after until the dual carriageway is completed.
“Those deaths will be deaths of our constituents.
“They might be deaths of our friends, members of our families or—perish the thought—even one of us.
“I asked SNP members to stand with us, ditch the Greens, and put their country and their constituents before their party interests, push ahead with the project and save lives but sadly this did not happen.”