Wendy Alexander MSP Demands Statement over GARL Betrayal

WENDY ALEXANDER MSP has demanded an emergency statement from the Finance Secretary John Swinney after it emerged that the SNP rejected an offer by Network Rail to salvage the Glasgow Airport Rail Link (GARL) immediately after the vital project was cancelled by the SNP last September.

The report in yesterday’s Herald newspaper said that John Swinney was approached by Network Rail around the time that Garl was cancelled with an offer to use its own borrowing powers to fund it.

Wendy said “The SNP have lied to the people of Glasgow, they have lied to Scotland.

“For months John Swinney called on Labour to identify alternative funding for GARL after he had removed it from the budget. We have consistently maintained that Network Rail was one potential source of funding for this vital economic project. Now we are astonished to discover that the SNP rejected approaches by Network Rail around the time GARL was cancelled.

“This raises question about John Swinney’s statement to the Transport Committee on November 3 in which he insisted he had explored using Network Rail funding which he repeated on subsequent occasions.

“This was an act of betrayal and economic vandalism. John Swinney must now come to the Parliament and make an emergency statement.”