McArthur: SNP must confirm that they won’t dump another climate target

Scottish Liberal Democrat climate spokesperson Liam McArthur has called on the SNP government to confirm that they will not dump their target to decarbonise the passenger rail network by 2035 after the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero failed to mention this deadline during an exchange in parliament.

Speaking in the Scottish Parliament earlier this week, Mr McArthur asked Gillian Martin, Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy, if she would reaffirm her government’s commitment to removing diesel passenger trains from service by 2035.

In response, Ms Martin said that the Scottish Government is committed to decarbonising the passenger rail network but made no mention of its target to do so by 2035. The Cabinet Secretary indicated that she would ask the Transport Secretary to provide Mr McArthur with further details.

Commenting after the exchange, Mr McArthur said:

“Although the Cabinet Secretary indicated that the government is committed to decarbonising our passenger rail network, any mention of doing that by 2035 was conspicuously absent from her response.

“In the past, the SNP have announced targets in one breath and ditched or missed them in another, all because they haven’t put in the work to make them achievable.

“The climate emergency merits a serious response backed up by tangible action. That is why I hope the Transport Secretary will provide reassurances that this is not simply the latest target to be dumped.”