SNP's Angus Robertson should ask himself why he's being ghosted by Labour ministers
Constitution Secretary Angus Robertson says his attempts to set up meetings with the Scottish and Foreign Secretaries have failed
In the recent Covid Inquiry report, Nicola Sturgeon and Boris Johnson were both criticised for the poor state of relations between them during the pandemic. The inquiry chair, Baroness Hallett, described their behaviour, diplomatically, as being “not in the interests of the people of the UK”.
It was confirmation of what we knew already – that the SNP and Conservatives were at daggers drawn, unable to put their differences aside even at a time of national crisis.
When Labour came to power last year, they made a deliberate effort to try to repair relations and the change of approach was initially welcomed by Scotland’s Constitution Secretary, Angus Robertson, as a “significant improvement”.
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Treated as ‘subordinate’ to Westminster
However, speaking to the Scottish Parliament's Constitution Committee yesterday, Robertson claimed that the UK Government viewed the devolved administrations as “subordinate” and said relations were now “suboptimal”.
He complained that Scottish ministers heard about UK Government initiatives "either in newspapers the day before they are officially launched, or on the day in a press release" and said his attempts to set up meetings with the Scottish and Foreign Secretaries had failed.
Politicians at Whitehall only "do as much as is necessary to help intergovernmental relations work" when it is in their own interest, he added, a suggestion that almost sounds deliberately naive. Does he expect them to act in ways that are contrary to their interests?
The finger of blame
When the predominant message being broadcast from the SNP administration is ‘blame Westminster’ for anything bad that happens in Scotland, can the nationalists really object if Labour is cautious about sharing potentially sensitive information with them?
Bad relations with the Tories and now poor relations with Labour? Given the SNP is the common factor, they might find the public finger of blame starts to point in their direction. Robertson can complain all he likes about being ghosted by Douglas Alexander and Yvette Cooper, but when that happens, there’s usually a reason.
Scotland needs its governments to work together in the national interest so Robertson and co should be trying to earn Labour’s trust. Labour, meanwhile, may wish to reflect on his comments and at least set up a meeting or two.
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