South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth has accused the SNP leadership candidates of saying one thing, but doing the other, after they spent a two hour hustings in Dumfries criticising the record in the South of Scotland of their own Scottish Government – despite all three being Ministers in that Government.

During the hustings last night (6 March) at the Easterbook Hall, the candidates admitted the SNP Government had failed to do enough in relation to the investment in infrastructure such as the A75 and A77, housing and learning support in schools with candidates admitting that the region is being “forgotten”. All three said their main priority remained independence, despite a majority of people in the South of Scotland being opposed, with one candidate claiming problems would be solved if people could get to watch STV.

Colin Smyth said: “It’s a damning indictment of all three candidates’ own record in Government as Ministers that they all admitted this was the forgotten region of Scotland.

“They have all been part of a government, in power for 16 years, that has centralised services and jobs away from our area, voted to cut the housing budget in the midst of a rural housing crisis and opposed any meaningful upgrades to key routes like A75 and A77. It is clear they will say one thing to get votes from members but do another when in power.”

Colin Smyth also accused the current SNP of trying to skew the contest in favour of Humza Yousaf. This week it was revealed that South Scotland MSP Emma Harper had used SNP HQ databases to e-mail members in the South of Scotland urging them to back Humza Yousaf in breach of party rules.

Colin Smyth said: “The SNP are not just electing their next party leader – they are choosing the next First Minister of Scotland without the public having a say, so it is deeply disturbing to see the way their party’s murky internal politics are trying to skew the contest in favour of one candidate. How can you govern with integrity and openness when you elect a leader through a process where party rules have been breached in favour of one candidate?”