Tory councillors would fight to end a “war on motorists” by the SNP and Greens, Douglas Ross vowed on Thursday.
Launching his manifesto for the local elections, the Scottish Tory leader said anti-car policies amounted to an attack on hard-working Scots because in many parts of the country a car “is not a luxury, it is a necessity”.
The Conservative prospectus included driver-friendly policies such as setting up dedicated pothole repair funds, giving local residents the right to demand repairs to poorly maintained roads and scrapping high street parking charges.
Mr Ross also said plans to impose a tax for parking at work, backed by the Greens and some SNP councillors, were “simply unacceptable” and would discriminate against rural areas.
“The war on motorists that has been lodged by the SNP and their Green partners in government is a war on hard-working Scots because in many parts of Scotland the car is not a luxury, it is a necessity,” said Mr Ross at a launch event in Glasgow.
“People need their cars to get to work in many of the places that the SNP is now proposing to introduce this car parking tax, and it is simply unacceptable to punish hard-working individuals who need to get to work and their only transport is their car.
“Not only that, even in areas where there is opportunity to use public transport, look at the mess it is in at the moment.”
‘Collision course’ with pro-independence parties
The Scottish government recently gave councils new powers to impose a levy on workplace parking spaces, which businesses will be able to pass on to workers. In Nottingham, the only other part of the UK to impose such a charge, the annual fee is £458 per space.
While the Scottish Greens will not win control of any councils alone, the party has talked up the prospect of forming local coalitions with the SNP, replicating the national arrangement at Holyrood.
Mr Ross said his party was on a “collision course” with the pro-independence parties on issues such as energy and warned that Labour councillors would prop up nationalist administrations.
He accused the SNP and Greens of claiming they wanted to stand up for the north east while at the same time attempting to “shut down” the oil and gas industry.
However, he has acknowledged that some voters may be put off voting for the Tories because of the “partygate” scandal.
Mr Ross previously called for Boris Johnson to quit but has since reversed his position, claiming it would be wrong to change Prime Minister while Ukraine is at war with Russia.
