You may have read my opinion piece the other day about the A9. The thrust of it was that the Scottish Government is committed to dualling the road for all the wrong reasons and that the changes which the upgrade might, or might not, bring about do not justify the cost. I also asked readers to email me their thoughts on my arguments, and they did. It wasn’t pretty.

One person, I’m pleased to say, emailed in to say that my piece was “wise” – just the one though. Mostly, it was criticism and abuse which is fine. I was “selfish”, I was a “smart-alec journalist”, I was a “central-belt Heh Jimmy”, and I didn’t understand what I was talking about because, they said, I don’t live in the Highlands or regularly use the A9. A few people claimed I’d quickly change my mind if I ever saw an accident on the road.

So here’s my reply, if I may. First of all, for the record (he said a little huffily) I do regularly use the A9 and have done for years – my granny’s from Thurso and I have family and friends all over the Highlands including in Inverness. It means I’ve been on the road when it’s been fine and I’ve been on the road when it hasn’t been fine, mainly because of slower-moving traffic or roadworks, sometimes the dualling roadworks. So I know the road well and yes, I know there are issues.

I also think some of the readers who emailed in got it........

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