Senior Moray Conservatives have demanded an apology from local SNP MSP Richard Lochhead for his inaction after the full extent of cuts to Moray Council’s budgets were exposed yesterday.
An article in The Press & Journal revealed the Council, which derives 80% of its budget from the Scottish Government, has had to slash spending on education, culture and roads/transport during the last ten years.
Jamie Halcro Johnston, Scottish Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands, has pointed out that the period coincides with Richard Lochhead’s tenure as MSP for Moray during most of which time he was a senior minister under Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.
Jamie said: “It is disgraceful that, during a period when the Council has had to reduce spending on education by nearly 20% - more than the national average, Richard Lochhead was content to blame the Council for the consequences.
“In fact, these cuts are entirely due to the Scottish Government he was, and is again, a senior figure in and their unfair treatment of Moray and other councils in the north of Scotland.
“In all his years in the corridors of power, Richard Lochhead appears to have done nothing to fight for Moray as his colleagues systematically slashed local budgets.
“Local people must be asking “where was he?” and “what was he doing?”; he certainly wasn’t standing up for Moray”
Councillor Tim Eagle, Leader of the Scottish Conservative Group on Moray Council, said: “For years as successive Council administrations struggled to balance the books, SNP councillors were happy to toe the central party line and refuse to put pressure on their SNP colleagues in Holyrood.
“Now that they are in Administration they are having to make the cuts themselves.
“A sign of how ludicrous they are is that in opposition they campaigned against reductions in school crossing patrols - and now they are cutting the entire service.
“It is ironic that the Council chamber will shortly be empty of its SNP councillors as they troop off to the SNP conference to cheer on Nicola Sturgeon’s demand for a second independence referendum.
“Maybe if they spent a bit more time on the day job – protecting our services – Moray Council would not be in the difficult situation it finds itself in.”
