Politicians should stop promising to build things that they cannot deliver such as the A96 which remains without significant upgrades and is dangerous, argues Herald columnist Alan Simpson

It winds its way north from Aberdeen through rural Aberdeenshire, over the Cabrach before hugging the coast to Inverness.

Normally it would be classed as a lovely drive and would be a must-do trip for those motoring tourists that seem to enjoy Scotland.

But for anyone who has ever driven the notorious A96 will know that there’s very little pleasant about it as it hasn’t been upgraded for decades.

The fact that it goes through Scotland’s lucrative Speyside whisky country should make it a priority.

However, rather like its more famous near neighbour, the A9, the main Aberdeen to Inverness road doesn’t seem to attract the same national attention.

Yet it should as it is just, if not more, dangerous than the A9.

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Recently, ministers got themselves in a further tangle over a lack of upgrades when there was no mention of it in the recent Scottish Budget.

Of course, rather than take the blame, the Scottish Government instead blamed a “production error” in its Budget documents.

This came after it appeared that ministers had dropped a long-standing commitment to fully dual the A96.

The mistake, acknowledged in Holyrood, followed mounting anger in the north and north-east after Finance Secretary Shona Robison appeared to downgrade the pledge.

In a statement to MSPs, the........

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