The SNP leader is making demands he can’t achieve in order to avoid the party’s shortcomings and widen the divide with Westminster, says TERRY MURDEN
The First week proper of the Scottish election campaign has seen SNP supporters and candidates pressing John Swinney’s new slogan “It’s Scotland’s Energy”, a re-boot of its previous claim on North Sea oil. It is being sold as a chest-beating symbol of the country’s power and a means to finance and sustain an independent country.
Holyrood hopefuls are now knocking on doors telling voters that a tick in the yellow box will not only repatriate control of energy from the greedy English, but an independent Scotland will cut their bills by a third.
So far, none of those taking to social media and waving placards in the streets trumpeting this argument have managed to explain how they will achieve either of these aims. Filling the information channels with noise is preferred to setting out the process that leads to lower costs.
The claims being made conveniently overlook who actually owns Scotland’s natural resources and, just as importantly, who fixes the price of energy.
They ignore the foreign ownership of the energy sector, the lack of appetite among providers for zonal pricing, and the fact that electricity prices are determined by gas on which the UK has a high dependency.
Making somewhat mischievous claims about Scotland’s ability to control the energy market have an underlying purpose for the SNP. They form part of an “improbable”, or “most unlikely”, list that John Swinney is now promoting. This list includes those things he knows are only achievable if granted by Westminster and which he also knows Westminster is unlikely to support.
They enable him to divert attention from the Scottish government’s record on health, housing, education, crime, the economy and all the day-to-day messy stuff in which it has hardly excelled and leave it exposed to the opposition. Hence, the First Minister’s reluctance to appear in TV debates. He must, at all costs, stay clear of his rivals, specifically face-to-face confrontations.
Of course, these demands are laced with an intent to provoke a negative response. When the answer from Westminster is a firm “no”, they provide the SNP with more ammunition to blame the UK Government for “disrespecting” devolution and Scotland itself.
As well as an independence referendum and zonal energy pricing, this “improbable” list includes a Scottish immigration visa, abolition of the House of Lords, a reversal of Brexit, re-entry to the EU customs union, and even a Bank Holiday to mark Scotland’s return to the men’s World Cup finals.
Like his promise to cut energy prices, Swinney has not explained how he will achieve another independence referendum, only that he has a “plan” that will be revealed after the election.
He has called for the UK to return to the customs union knowing that to do so would require the Labour government to unwind all the trade deals it has negotiated.
Abolition of the Lords was a 2024 Labour manifesto pledge, but it has been on the political agenda for more than a century and does not appear to be a priority.
The cheekiest call is for the extra Bank Holiday. It may appear to be a simple case of granting a day off for football fans to mark a sporting occasion. But bank holidays are decided by a mix of Act of Parliament and Royal Proclamation. In any case, there is no statutory right to a day off work specifically on bank holidays.
As Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said of Mr Swinney’s election strategy: “He wants to make it about a government somewhere else, not the government here.”
Terry Murden was Scotland Editor and Business Editor at The Sunday Times, Business Editor at The Scotsman, and Business and City Editor at Scotland on Sunday. He is now Editor of Daily Business
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