Mr McNulty said:

 

"On Wednesday John Swinney is going to have to answer questions over the Scottish Futures Trust that he's been avoiding for the past year. The planned new Forth crossing is the acid test for SFT. If Swinney's flagship financing scheme cannot meet the challenge of Scotland biggest's construction project, the credibility of SFT will be in tatters.

 

"Indications over the weekend that "shadow tolling" is under consideration would represent a humiliating climbdown by the SNP. They said they would abolish tolls on the Forth Bridge - now it appears they are thinking of reintroducing a tolling scheme to pay for the new crossing - the only difference being that everyone in Scotland would be expected to pay - whether they use the new bridge or not.

 

"The Minister must make it clear whether the new bridge will be an additional or replacement crossing. Parliament should be told what the technical experts are saying about the success of the dehumidification of the cables on the current bridge and the prospect of carrying out effective repairs. Swinney must also come clean about what would be involved in reducing the cost of the new bridge by £1bn."

7 December