Concrete ideas, not muddled moonshine

IT has been another torrid week in Scottish politics.

The surprise departure of Kezia Dugdale from the leadership of Scottish Labour means the party must embark on another protracted bout of internal squabbling as it seeks a new figurehead.

It says much about the fractious state of Labour – torn between the hard Left Corbyn faction and more moderate centrists such as Miss Dugdale – that it seems no one is in a hurry to take over the leadership.

That said, with the Left’s zealots in the ascendancy, much to the delight of union hotheads relishing Corbyn’s 1970s blueprint for chaos, a lurch their way in the Scottish party looks likely.

At the SNP, Nicola Sturgeon took a moment out from her never-ending attempts to undermine the UK to deliver an odd vision of Scotland’s economic future.

Her blueprint is based on green energy (how the heart sinks – aren’t we supposed to be the Saudi Arabia of renewables by now?) and a robotics. What business really wants is a lightening of the tax burden, not a sketchy ambition to somehow monetise robots.

Contrast that with Ruth Davidson and the Scottish Tories, who are determined to end the constitutional uncertainty the Nationalists stir to distract from their lack of competence on day-to-day governance.

Miss Davidson yesterday laid out concrete plans to revitalise the housing sector via an ambitious building programme.

Further, she wants to put infrastructure on a more significant footing with a dedicated Cabinet minister.

Miss Sturgeon was once SNP Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Capital Investment and Cities, but the role played second fiddle to her involvement in the 2014 independence referendum.

Miss Davidson’s vision is bold and courageous and rooted in deliverable reality.

Contrast that with Labour’s shambles and Nationalist moonshine.