Rutherglen MSP praises Clyde Gateway's work weeks after SNP 'printing error' left them £5m short

Clare Haughey at Scottish Parliament

Rutherglen SNP MSP Clare Haughey has issued leaflets praising Clyde Gateway for their work within the community weeks after a government ‘printing error’ stripped their funding.

Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Shona Robison, reportedly designated funds of £5million for Clyde Gateway in her spending plans released to the public on December 20.

However, the following day Clyde Gateway – an urban regeneration organisation that promotes inbound investment and improvements for people in several towns, including Rutherglen – was told that there had been a mistake and that they would not be receiving the £5m due to a “printing error”.

This week, Lanarkshire Live received copies of a leaflet distributed by Rutherglen MSP Clare Haughey praising the organisation.

It read: “Over the past couple of years, the transformation of parts of Rutherglen has been incredible. Led by Clyde Gateway, land which was once derelict or contaminated has been acquired and then cleaned up, new business centres have been built across the town, and Cuningar Loop has been created and expanded.

“The regeneration has so far attracted inward investment, and brought new businesses to Rutherglen which in turn has brought new highly skilled jobs.”

MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West Michael Shanks spoke about Clyde Gateway’s important work in the House of Commons on February 1.

The following day, he slammed Ms Haughey and urged her to vote against the Scottish Government’s budget.

He said: “Clyde Gateway has delivered important investment to our community over many years and has ambitious plans for the future. That work is going to be made more difficult by the Scottish Government’s decision to cut all of its capital funding in the budget.

“Clare Haughey rightly praises the work of Clyde Gateway but now needs to confirm if she will vote for the budget that slashes its funding.

“The people of Rutherglen deserve to have an MSP that stands up to cuts to the local community not simply votes them through”

Clare Haughey responded: “The work Clyde Gateway has done across Rutherglen over recent years has been transformational and I am fully supportive of their future regeneration plans.

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“Indeed, the Scottish Government clearly recognises and values Clyde Gateway having provided them with over £200 million which has helped fund projects like Cuningar Loop Woodland Park, the Red Tree Magenta at Shawfield, and the Rutherglen Links Business Park at Farme Cross.

“Michael Shanks was elected to stand up for this constituency at Westminster and take the fight to the Tories – instead he’s acting as a human shield for them by ignoring the fact the UK Government has cut the Scottish Government’s capital budget by 10 percent.

“Despite the impact these Westminster cuts will have on Scotland’s budget, I wrote to the Deputy First Minister about Clyde Gateway’s funding settlement, and I have a meeting scheduled with the Minister for Local Government early next week where I will be making the case for further investment in Clyde Gateway.”