Party leader Russell Findlay and rural affairs spokesman Tim Eagle formally launched the party’s plans to support rural Scotland at a farm in Aberdeenshire.
Findlay says that the “common-sense” policies outlined in the manifesto will grow the rural economy, protect key local services and stand up for the interests of rural Scotland, which has been “shamefully abandoned” by the SNP.
He added that the Scottish Conservatives are the only party to have consistently stood up for rural communities, while the others don’t understand or care about them. That includes Reform, who have proposed dispersing asylum seekers from cities to camps in rural Scotland.
Rural affairs spokesman Tim Eagle, who is also a sheep farmer near Buckie, says if the SNP win a majority in May’s election, then the interests of rural Scotland will once again be “put at the bottom of the pile”.
Measures in the party’s rural manifesto include:
- Establish Scottish Business Zones in rural areas to attract jobs and investment
- Establish re-population zones to lure back those who have left depopulated areas
- Commit to multi-annual funding for the farming and fishing industries
- Boost the rural budget by at least £50 million above inflation to reverse years of SNP cuts
- Improve digital connectivity in rural Scotland
- Upgrade or dual key rural roads such as the A9, A96, A75 and A83
