A TORY MP mocked Ian Blackford's rough voice at Prime Minister's Questions as the SNP Westminster leader battled through questions in the House of Commons.

The Ross, Skye and Lochaber MP spoke with a hoarse voice as he questioned Boris Johnson about the snub of a Scottish carbon capture project.

A Acorn Project was overlooked in the first round of UK Government funding for a carbon capture storage (CCS) scheme. The north east project will instead be kept as a "reserve".

Blackford said: "In 11 short days, world leaders will gather in Glasgow for COP26. This is our best chance and very likely our last chance to confront the climate emergency faced by our planet.

"That is why it was such a devastating blow that on the eve of COP26, this UK Government rejected the Scottish cluster's bid to gain track 1 status for carbon capture storage.

READ MORE: Sir Ian Wood slams UK decision to snub Scots carbon capture scheme

"Today's Press & Journal has said there is no valid reason and no acceptable excuse for this decision and have called for U-turn on this colossal mistake immediately. We know this decision wasn't made on technical or logical grounds. This devastating decision was purely political.

"Scotland's north east was promised this investment in 2014 - it is a promise that has been broken time and time again. So Mr Speaker, will the Prime Minister finally live up to those promises or are they simply not worth the Tory election leaflets they are written on?"

 

READ MORE: Ian Blackford blasts Boris Johnson for breaking 'yet another promise to Scots'

In his response to the SNP Westminster leader, Johnson acknowledged there would be “disappointment” about the decision but sought to offer reassurance by insisting that the project would be considered a “reserve” to the English sites.

Blackford was followed in his questions by Tory MP Anthony Mangnall, who said: "It's always a pleasure to follow the honourable gentleman and the new quiet man of British politics.

"Long may it continue."

Mangnall's statement prompted guffaws from the Tory benches.

The "quiet man of British politics" was former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, who styled himself with the title as he told opponents not to "underestimate the determination of a quiet man".

The 2002 Tory conference saw an attempt to paint Duncan Smith's lack of charisma as a positive attribute as the party was in opposition at the time. However, it prompted Labour backbenchers to raise their fingers to their lips and say "shush" when he was speaking at PMQs.