HE COMPLAINS OF POLARISATION. HE HELPED CAUSE IT
IN his acceptance speech yesterday, John Swinney bemoaned the polarisation of politics and stressed the need for a new era, in which we ‘stop shouting at each other’. Instead, we must talk and listen.
That noble ambition might have a semblance of credibility if he had not been at the heart of an SNP government that sought to pit Scot against Scot; if, as Nicola Sturgeon’s deputy leader, he had shown any sign of listening, rather than fostering the polarisation he complains about.
Or, if he hadn’t launched his leadership bid under the slogan ‘uniting for independence’ – a contradiction in terms if ever there was one.
BUT Mr Swinney isn’t interested in unity for Scotland, only – fancifully – for the SNP, by doubling down on independence, the one issue they do agree on.
As ever, Scotland’s real priorities, such as repairing our public services and delivering economic growth, are of no consequence beside the Nationalists’ own interests.
He isn’t worried by the crumbling NHS, declining educational standards, the cost-ofliving and housing crises, transport, crime, local services and an economy stagnating thanks to SNP policies.
After all, he was integral to the government that created these problems.
Even if he had any interest in halting and reversing the damplug age SNP policies have inflicted on the country, he’s about the worst-placed person to do so.
His fingerprints are all over those failed policies.
He was the man sent out to defend them when it became clear they were falling to pieces. He has been chief fixer and operator of the SNP’s machinery all through their time in office.
He is the ultimate continuity candidate for a regime mired in scandal, knee-deep in coverups and now swamped by the consequences of its own catastrophic decisions.
This thoroughly discredited party’s offer of a fresh start is a typically secretive and unaccountable stitch-up to ensure the coronation of someone who was an abject failure as leader two decades ago. Who, as education secretary, sent Scotland plummeting down international league tables.
Who, as Covid recovery secretary, deleted his WhatsApp messages after promising full transparency. Who, when in the finance brief, backed the widening tax gap deterring the dentists, doctors, headteachers and entrepreneurs we desperately need to kick-start an ailing economy.
Who imposed savage cuts to the financial black hole the SNP created. And who, as Deputy First Minister, vigorously defended the worst initiatives of Nicola Sturgeon and her Green allies.
That record, and the carve-up that ensured he became SNP leader, makes it obvious that he has no prospect of repairing the deep rifts in his own party.
He will still be a hostage to the extremist, anti-growth Greens, and the real losers will be ordinary Scots, whose priorities will continue to be ignored.
HE’S offering no apology for fiascos like the ferries scandal, the Deposit Return Scheme, the illiberal Hate Crime Act or his own Named Persons Act, which had to be scrapped.
Far from disowning that period, he’s talking about revisiting the reckless gender reform legislation mercifully blocked by Alister Jack, the Secretary of State for Scotland, amid the outcry over the case of the double rapist Isla Bryson.
Rather than face the issues that matter to people, the SNP is offering a new leader who was a total failure as their old leader, and who served as a cravenly obedient deputy to a First Minister whose legacy lies in tatters.
I offer Mr Swinney congratulations on becoming SNP leader, again. But his unopposed appointment is a clear indication his ‘new chapter’ will only continue the same old depressing story, with one of its principal authors.
The SNP have lost the plot. We must close the book on their abysmal time in office.