Harper speaks out after funding snub

A SOUTH Scotland MSP has hit out at the UK Government after it was revealed the south west will miss out on millions of pounds of funding.

The UK Government announced a package of funding last week through its Local Growth Fund – but not a single penny has been earmarked for the south west.

While Glasgow City Region will receive over £60 million, the Borderlands area, which includes Dumfries and Galloway, will get nothing.

While funding in Wales will be determined by the Government in Cardiff, the UK Government in Scotland has decided to govern by diktat and freeze out the Scottish Parliament from decisions about which areas to fund and by how much.

The decision to miss out the south west has been slammed by the SNP’s Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland, who has written to the Scottish Secretary demanding an explanation.

She said: “It is beyond disgraceful that not a single penny from this so-called “local” growth fund is coming to the south west.

“This is what happens when the UK Government keep its hand on the public purse rather than having a Scottish Government determining its priorities.

“In sharp contrast to their approach in Wales, where the Government there is deciding where should benefit from their local growth fund, the UK Scotland Office is indulging in control-freakery and a centralised mindset that belongs in the 1970s, not the 21st century.

“To that end I’ve written to the Scotland Office asking exactly why they seem to think the south west deserves to be completely snubbed in this way.

“I have minimal expectations that the Scottish Secretary will see sense and work with the Scottish Government to deliver funding to our communities – instead he will carry on with the same approach which has led to his party being about as popular as the bubonic plague, but I will carry on exposing the UK’s dogmatic and harmful approach to local funding which will damage our fragile economy here in the south west.”