Alex Salmond challenges Tories to confirm £300m infrastructure snub

Alex Salmond has written to the Prime Minister after it was reported that the Scottish Government’s request for cash for “shovel-ready” projects would be dismissed in George Osborne’s Budget tomorrow.

The SNP administration had submitted a list of capital projects on which work could start immediately if additional funding was made available, estimating that every extra £100 million of funding could support about 1,400 jobs in Scotland.

Mr Salmond said the Prime Minister had told him he was “sympathetic” to the case the Scottish Government made when the two men met in Edinburgh last month.

The First Minister then followed that up by sending a list of the projects that could go ahead straight away to Mr Cameron.

But the SNP leader hit out at the “offhand manner in which these serious issues appear to have been handled by the Treasury”.

The projects the Scottish Government wanted cash to be made available for include refurbishment of the Kincardine Bridge, work on a number of roads throughout Scotland, and several university projects, including the development of the Centre for Virology research at Glasgow University.

Mr Salmond said that in media reports over the weekend, Treasury sources were quoted as saying “the Chancellor of the Exchequer has dismissed the representations” for funding for the projects.

The First Minister stated he would be “extremely disappointed” if the issue had been rejected in this way.

He told Mr Cameron he had made “these representations in good faith”, adding: “As you will remember, you told me that you were sympathetic to the capital investment point but were sceptical as to whether projects could be ready to take effect from this coming financial year.

“You readily agreed to being sent a list of ‘shovel-ready’ projects that could have an immediate and beneficial impact. The clear understanding was that if we could demonstrate that such projects could be taken forward in an appropriate timescale then they would be given proper consideration.

“This we have done and there is now no argument that some £300 million of capital projects could be deployed in the coming financial year giving a vital boost to local economies around Scotland.”

He called on Mr Cameron to confirm if reports that the Scottish Government’s call for funding would be dismissed in the Budget were correct.

“I therefore invite you to dissociate yourself from the comments that have been attributed to representatives of your Government,” he told the Prime Minister

“I also ask once again that you take action to ensure that this week’s Budget delivers for Scotland. You could do this by agreeing to provide the additional funding to support the list of ‘shovel-ready’ projects I enclosed with my letter.”