Ministers ‘concealed’ they had no money to build bypass

A former SNP MSP has accused the Scottish government of failing to disclose that it had no money to build a bypass in the Highlands.

Former SNP minister Fergus Ewing, who broke away from the party after fall-outs over issues including roads, said the A96 Nairn bypass had been promised since 2011.

He told BBC Scotland News ministers had been “concealing advice” which said there was unlikely to be any money to take forward the procurement and construction phases this decade.

On Friday, First Minister John Swinney said his government was “absolutely committed” to a bypass and the dualling of the A96 at Nairn.

In November 2024 the Scottish government abandoned its commitment to make the A96 from Inverness to Aberdeen fully dual carriageway by 2030.

The SNP pledged in 2011 to upgrade 86 miles (138km) of the route by then.

Ewing said a recent freedom of information (FOI) request revealed ministers were told in 2023 that there was no cash to pay for the Nairn bypass for at least eight years.

But the Inverness and Nairn MSP added ministers then “covered it up”.

Ewing added: “That’s a shocking revelation and it shows that they are saying one thing to the public when they know that another thing is in fact the case.”

He said on 24 March 2023, Màiri McAllan – the net zero and just transition secretary at the time – was advised by Transport Scotland that for the Nairn bypass, “no funding has been identified to take forward the procurement and construction phases of the scheme”.

Ewing said McAllan, Fiona Hyslop – who became transport secretary in June 2023 – and First Minister John Swinney “chose to conceal this advice from the public despite being urged to accept a duty of candour”.

He added: “For nearly three years they have hidden from the public that they knew that the Nairn bypass would, in the absence of funds, have little chance of being built before 2031, if at all.”

Ewing said he had made multiple FOI requests before he was given details of the Transport Scotland funding update on 17 December.

BBC Scotland News has seen the documents.

Ewing was suspended from the SNP in September 2023 for a week after a disciplinary vote by MSPs.

The move followed his criticisms of the party leadership and his decision to vote against the government in a no-confidence motion.

On Thursday, Ewing said the FOI documents also revealed that Transport Scotland “actively pressed” the Scottish government to abandon the long held pledge of dualling the whole of the A96.

Instead they proposed a “refined package” which amounts to a few bypasses of Keith and Elgin but little else.

Ewing, who will stand as an independent in this year’s Holyrood election, said: “This two-faced sleekit approach is why I could no longer support the SNP and also why the public cannot believe a word they say or any pledge they make. They promised to dual the whole of the A96 by 2030.

“It is now revealed that they knew it was unlikely to start before 2031 if at all.”

Laura Hansler, who runs the A9 Dual Action Group, said she was not surprised by what Ewing had uncovered.

She told the BBC’s Radio Scotland Breakfast programme: “They have made a conscious choice to be not forthcoming with the truth and it is absolutely infuriating.”

Asked what she thought would happen next, she replied: “I think there is going to be a pull back.”

A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “The position of the Scottish government has not changed: we support fully dualling the A96 and we are already starting the dualling process from Inverness to Nairn, including a Nairn Bypass, having acquired the land for the scheme in 2025.”

They added future decisions on the way ahead for the A96 Corridor would be shaped by “available and planned budgets”.

The spokesperson said both would be influenced by both the recent UK Government’s Autumn Budget and the Scottish Budget on Tuesday.

Fergus Ewing was so angry about this his raised voice turned heads in the Garden Lobby at Holyrood during our interview.

This story is a heady mix of a powerful local issue, secret documents and an upcoming election battle.

Warning lights flash as we plough through this – there’s a lot of politics around.

Ewing was SNP royalty; a scion of the Ewing clan and a long-serving government minister.

He’s had a specular falling out with his party colleagues over oil and gas, gender and, notably, roads.

The now independent Inverness & Nairn MSP feels progress on the A96 (and A9) has been at a snail’s pace.

He’s gunning for the government and all this is grist to his mill as he seeks re-election in that constituency.

Ewing views this as promise after promise from ministers while they cynically sit with an empty purse.

Transport Scotland don’t deny the story but do say their position hasn’t changed – they support dualling and the Nairn by-pass.

The first minister echoes that commitment and has also sign-posted to the government’s budget on Tuesday which will give more details about the infrastructure investment pipeline.

In fairness, their hands are tied about what more they can say ahead of that – but the patient people of Nairn will be wanting the government to get a move on.

Expensive promises do ultimately have to be delivered – if they don’t, there’s a political cost.