SNP and Labour must embrace 'Scotlandism' and finally start working together – Barrie Cunning
The SNP and Labour need to put their differences aside and prioritise the national interest
In February, I launched the Scotland 2050 manifesto, entitled An Ambitious Long-Term Vision for Scotland. All 129 MSPs received a copy and the feedback to date has been welcoming and supportive across all the parties and sectors we engaged with. However, the reality is that there is more to do if we are going to shift the dial on future policy in Scotland and see real, tangible results.
With the support from key partners like Forth Ports, Homes For Scotland, real estate firm CBRE, and developer Taylor Wimpey, the Scotland 2050 manifesto touched on many of the pressing issues affecting the country today – like housing, the economy, port infrastructure, energy and connectivity, devolution and Scotland’s public services.
Our ambition was and still remains the same today – to influence the Scottish Government and opposition parties by putting forward a progressive policy agenda and stressing the need for a long-term plan at the heart of that ambition. We remain hopeful that this will be factored into Scotland’s next Programme for Government.
Political timidity
Long-term thinking is the underpinning ethos of Scotland 2050, and we believe everyone should be part of the conversation about the future of this country. If we are to tackle the issues affecting Scotland today, secure the real change that the country needs, and build a better tomorrow, having a long-term industrial strategy is absolutely vital.
A short-term approach to addressing Scotland’s structural challenges has failed to deliver the change that people want. Both the Scottish and UK governments need to take ownership of this and aspire to work better together with the nation’s interests at heart.
Short-termism breeds a culture of timidity and aversion to risk, as winning the next election takes priority over delivering for the country. Prioritising the political cycle over the actual needs of the public has a tendency to prevent pragmatic decisions from being taken.
And, as we have just seen with the Scottish election, the resulting lack of progress leads to voter apathy, low turnouts and a growing disconnect between the electorate and their representatives in parliament. Unless something changes, this will only get worse, but I do believe we can change things for the better.
Having met with the Scottish Government, UK Government and opposition parties on several occasions, I know there is a willingness and an appetite for realpolitik to create a more robust and meaningful way of securing better outcomes for people.
I believe in Scotland
The big question is what do we want to see from a future UK Government led by Andy Burnham. For a considerable time, politics has seen the use of isms – Blairism, Corbynism and now ‘Manchesterism’ – to denote a specific system of beliefs, principles, doctrine, or behaviours. We have turned the suffix of a word, ‘ism’, into a noun that represents an ideology, philosophy or social movement.
The one that I want to hear about is Scotlandism. Why? Because I believe in Scotland, I believe in our potential to succeed. But to do so we need to have both the UK and Scottish Governments working together to deliver for the country.
With Burnham likely to become Prime Minister in the next few weeks, I want to see a real focus on Scotland as part of his priorities. I welcome his comments about the need to “rewire” politics with a focus on greater devolution, but for a country that has been overshadowed by cultural and constitutional politics for quite some time, will enhanced devolution achieve the growth Scotland needs?
And what is meant by enhanced devolution? Is it more powers to Scotland, could we see energy policy being somewhat devolved to Scotland? Or is it more about the structure and process of that decision-making? Time will tell.
Scotland’s productivity problem
As we recognised in the Scotland 2050 manifesto, the economy underpins every ambition that we have for the country. Without a good and growing economy, Scotland will not be able to achieve the success it needs, nor will it have the wellbeing economy it deserves.
Increasing investment must therefore be seen as a key priority, whether it comes from public sources, the private sector, foreign direct investment or a combination of all three.
Scotland is not immune from challenges to growth. The public sector has been increasing in size and now provides 22 per cent of total employment, the highest share since 2010. This is an issue that has been recognised by the Scottish Government and it is one that is compounded by the problem of low productivity. If we are to see a robust and resilient economy emerge, there must be a renewed focus on boosting growth at both Westminster and Holyrood.
Scotland has huge demands for infrastructure investment but currently can only borrow up to £450 million a year, up to a maximum total of £3 billion, for infrastructure investments. At Scotland 2050, we believe there is a real need for major and significant investment to enable the economic transformation that people need.
The reality is that the level of borrowing currently available to the Scottish Government is not likely to be sufficient for the scale of the challenge. At Scotland 2050, one of our asks of Burnham is that he, alongside the Scottish Government, should undertake a comprehensive review of the current fiscal framework agreement to examine increased borrowing options for the Scottish Government.
As someone who recognises the importance of devolved decision-making and has an appreciation of regional economics, I would ask that the SNP Scottish Government and Andy Burnham’s new Labour government meet as soon as possible to facilitate the start of this process. It’s time to invest in a future that will benefit everyone in Scotland.
Barrie Cunning is the founder of Scotland 2050 and the managing director of Pentland Communications
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.