Scottish Conservative and Unionist MSP for Lothian Jeremy Balfour is backing his party’s plans to establish a Rural Development Bank.
The plans were unveiled by party leader Douglas Ross at the UK Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.
The bank will be the focal point of the party’s Rural First policy approach and will give rural areas and farmers in the Lothians a dedicated source of funding to apply to in order to access loans and grants that can be invested in the industry and the rural economy.
The Rural Development Bank will help rural communities in the Lothians to invest in what matters to them, such as agriculture infrastructure or buildings of local importance to the area.
Jeremy Balfour says that the bank is urgently needed, as rural communities have been left behind by an SNP Government obsessed with centralisation over the last 15 years, reducing the opportunities available for those living in rural areas.
Jeremy Balfour added that farmers and rural areas are being hit particularly hard with rising costs, and that the bank would ensure their needs are put first.
Scottish Conservative and Unionist MSP Jeremy Balfour said: “All too often our rural communities in the Lothians have been left behind by the SNP Government over the last 15 years.
“That has meant fewer jobs and opportunities being available to people living in the Lothian Region as the SNP have also centralised vital local services away from this area.
“The Rural Development Bank being proposed by the Scottish Conservatives would ensure that our farmers and rural communities know where to turn to for a dedicated source of funding.
“That would ensure rural areas could create jobs and opportunities to allow people to stay here and attract others to make Rural Lothian their place to live and work.
“It will also allow rural communities to invest in the projects that matter to them as well as helping them cope with rising costs.
“All of Scotland deserves a fair chance and it is our rural and remote communities in the Lothian Region that have been left behind the most by Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP Government.
“By creating a Rural Development Bank, we are showing that we are putting rural Scotland first.”
