Douglas Ross hits back at Richard Lochhead criticism of graduated licence

Moray's Conservative MP, Douglas Ross, has hit out after Moray MSP, Richard Lochhead, knocked his proposal to launch a pilot of the graduated driving licence.

The SNP politician described the plans as "ill thought out", but Mr Ross has pointed out that the proposals are supported by the Scottish Government which Mr Lochhead is a part of.

Douglas said: "Richard has seen this as an excuse to criticise me without doing his research. The deputy leader of the SNP (Keith Brown MSP) held a debate in the Scottish Parliament supporting the proposal and when he was transport minister, Humza Yousaf, backed the introduction of the scheme and said it was the initiative with the most clear and unambiguous evidence to show that it reduces the crash rate for new and young drivers.

"Richard Lochhead should have asked his own party colleagues before deciding to attack me for raising this issue."

Mr Ross' initial backing of the scheme prompted a backlash on Facebook, and Mr Lochhead backed many of those raising issues they saw with the plans. Douglas has seen positives come from the discussion stirred.

He said: "I’ve been encouraged by the level of debate this has prompted. Too many young people are dying or being seriously injured on our roads so we have to look at all options.

"The graduated driving licence is backed by comprehensive research and works in other countries so I want to see it piloted to see if we can benefit in the same way. All the evidence from academics in this field indicate that a form of the licence would save lives.

"All I am suggesting at present is we look at the scheme and address the genuine concerns that have been raised. I’m pleased that already young Moray drivers have contacted me asking to get involved if we can secure the pilot.

"I accept there has been a lot of discussion on this since I raised the issue, but I think that’s good. Politics is all about debating issues and finding a solution that works, and in this case hopefully also save lives."

Mr Lochhead ended the back and forth by adding: "Not every issue needs to be seen through the prism of political point scoring and furious press releases.

"I hope that Douglas Ross now realises that some issues need careful thought and consideration."

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