Moray MP Douglas Ross has urged the area’s MSP, Richard Lochhead, to use his influence within the SNP Scottish Government to protect Moray from cuts to vital services. Douglas’s call follows revelations that Moray Council faces having to make an extra £7.3m in cuts after the Scottish Government further reduced the council’s funding in its recent budget. The new cuts are on top of £6.4m already identified for 2019/20.
Douglas said: “According to its SNP leader, Moray Council will be unable to fund many of the services it currently provides. Unless we see a recognition from the Scottish Government that something needs to be done we will see huge damage being done to services that many local people rely on. It is surely now time for Richard Lochhead, who is a minister in Nicola Sturgeon’s government, to use his influence to save our services.
“The SNP have been in power in Holyrood since 2007 and Mr Lochhead has been Moray’s MSP for all that time, often in senior ministerial roles. And yet Moray continues to receive a very poor and unfair deal. I hope that Richard Lochhead’s New Year resolution will be to start fighting for Moray.”