Snow response slated as 'not swift enough'

THE Scottish Government’s response to the winter weather crisis has been slammed by one leading MSP as too slow.

- BY RICHARD ELIAS

As the Met Office warned of recent snowfall in the north and northeast of the country being some of the heaviest in years, many people were questioning why Holyrood has not acted more decisively.

And last night, one Scottish Conservative MSP drew comparisons with the current scenario to that of a major wildfire in the same region where, once again, the reaction of ministers came under scrutiny.

Tim Eagle, the party's shadow rural affairs secretary, has now written to the First Minister John Swinney asking him to explain his government's stance.

He has also urged him to instruct councils in the Central Belt which have not been affected by the blizzards to lend their own snow-clearing equipment to local authorities which have.

In his letter, Mr Eagle said: "Ongoing pressures on council funding have limited the scale of winter resilience many local authorities would wish to have in place.

'Financial pressure limits resilience'