Scottish Conservative MSP, Edward Mountain, today pressed the Scottish Government to confirm which publicly owned companies were up for sale at Prestwick Airport during Topical Questions.
Edward Mountain MSP said: “The importance Conservatives place on Prestwick Airport cannot be doubted. The other week Cabinet Secretary, I asked at the Rural Economy Committee which company you were offering for sale at Prestwick Airport and at that stage you didn’t know, do you know now?”
The Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity responded: “As it stands these matters are commercially confidential and I also gave a commitment to Parliament that I would update them in due course should progress be made on these matters.”
Edward Mountain MSP expressed his disappointment with that response and raised the following point of order: “There are six companies relating to Prestwick Airport and the Cabinet Secretary must know which company he is offering for sale, I don’t believe its commercially confidential.”
Following Topical Questions, Edward Mountain MSP commented:
“Why is the Cabinet Secretary avoiding the question? Does the Scottish Government have something to hide?
Back in July, the Scottish Government were inviting expressions of interest in Prestwick Airport. At that time the Scottish Government were exploring the sale of 100% of its shareholding in Prestwick Aviation Holdings Ltd, which owns the airport.
But now the Cabinet Secretary is unwilling to confirm if Prestwick Aviation Holdings Ltd or any of its five subsidiary companies are up for sale.
It’s time for the Scottish Government to come clean and confirm its future plans for Glasgow Prestwick Airport.”
HCUA Comment:
As the Cabinet Secretary was unable to offer more detail, the inescapable conclusion is that the SNP Administration has failed to make any progress on Prestwick, yet another failure in a litany of incompetency that is costing the Scottish people dearly. As ever, the SNP has tried to hide its failures behind smokescreens like commercial confidentiality, rather than admit the truth.
Herald article on ‘expression of interest’ advert email for Prestwick Airport, 17 June 2019: https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17710958.prestwick-airport-could-be-sold-by-october/
