Dave Thompson MSP

Highlands and Islands MSP Dave Thompson has expressed his disappointment that Liberal Democrat politicians who now find themselves in power at Westminster appear to have dropped their earlier commitment to fight for The Highland Council's crippling £138.4 million housing debt to be written off.

Each year The Highland Council is forced to pay £15 million from its already-stretched budget just to service the interest on this housing debt.

In advance of this year's General Election, Danny Alexander, MSP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, repeatedly pressed the Treasury Minister of the previous Labour Government to allow the local authority to defer these payments and, ultimately, for the debt itself to be written off.

In March last year, Mr Alexander even joined senior figures from The Highland Council when they met treasury officials to press their case for their burden to be eased to allow the council to meet the growing demand for new affordable homes and to create jobs by investing in a new building programme using money which would otherwise be swallowed up by servicing the interest on the housing debt.

Now that Mr Alexander has been appointed to the Treasury and is in a position to deliver exactly the measures he had previously called for repeatedly while in opposition, SNP MSP Dave Thompson has reminded him of his former stance and urged him to stand by his earlier position.

"Before his recent sudden elevation to senior office at Westminster, Mr Alexander repeatedly called for this crippling debt to be cancelled," said Mr Thompson.

"That was a goal we in the SNP shared but, while the Liberal Democrats appear to be preparing their excuses to dump this policy, apparently with hardly a second thought, now that the chance of holding power at Westminster has dangled in front of them by the Tories, we continue to argue that the overwhelming case for this debt to be written off remains as strong as ever."

Mr Thompson continued: "After the Westminster election, I wrote to Mr Alexander while he was briefly in position as Scottish Secretary to urge him to continue with his campaign for the housing debt to be written off.

"Now his new position as Chief Secretary to the Treasury gives him even more influence over such a decision and that is why I was so disappointed this week when Michael Moore, his replacement as Scottish Secretary, replied but failed to offer anything other than excuses about why nothing has been achieved on this vitally important issue."

The SNP MSP added: "Mr Alexander must now do what he can to show that his earlier principles have not now been abandoned simply to allow him to climb Westminster's greasy pole."

Note:

Scottish Secretary's letter.