Fuel prices bring rural bus fears

Mr Purvis wants more support for rural bus services

Lifeline bus services in the borders have been put in jeopardy because the Scottish Government has not increased fuel subsidies, an MSP has claimed.

Lib Dem MSP Jeremy Purvis said the UK Government was giving extra aid to bus firms in England and Wales because of the recent rise in fuel prices.

He has accused the SNP government of focusing on the central belt and ignoring rural communities.

However, SNP MSP Christine Graham said prices were a concern for the party.

Mr Purvis, MSP for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale, said he and his Holyrood colleagues would be demanding answers from the Scottish Government as to why there would be a differential between Scotland other parts of the UK.

he government is showing very concerning centralising and central belt tendencies Jeremy Purvis MSP

He said: "We rely on bus services in the Borders. They are lifeline services for local communities together with local services. That is why every support should be made available.

"Communities rely on them and it is simply not the case that it is a minor issue - it is a key issue. There should not be a gulf between England and Scotland.

"The government is showing very concerning centralising and central belt tendencies. It is not recognising the need in rural areas like the Borders for bus services."

Mr Purvis said there were now new buses on better routes across the Borders, but making it more costly to run the services was a "retrograde step."

'North Sea'

South of Scotland SNP MSP Ms Grahame said that an independent Scotland would have enough revenue to lower fuel prices for both private bus operators and car users.

She said: "Higher fuel in rural areas is always a concern to my party and of course it is outrageous with all the oil that is in the North Sea recently reaching almost $100 a barrel we should have the highest fuel costs in Europe.

"The Scottish Government has always been very supportive of public transport.

"It has provided, for the first time, local government with the flexibility in the money they have been allocated to prioritise what they want to do so it is really a matter for local government."