SNP MP: London is economic opportunity for Scots
LONDON should not be regarded as a “great, big evil thing” but as a source of economic opportunity that must be exploited to the full if Scotland is not going to lose out to England’s burgeoning “northern powerhouse”, according to Stewart McDonald, one of the SNP’s new intake of MPs.
The backbencher, who represents Glasgow South, said while his party had political misgivings about the Conservative Government, this should not blind it to the fact the UK capital was a global financial hub, which presented economic opportunities for Scotland, whether or not it becomes independent.
“We should not look at dealing with London as if it was a boil on the back of our leg; we need to look at it as a source of opportunity,” said Mr McDonald.
“We have to look at the new challenge of the northern powerhouse and how we deal with the new shift in powers going to places like Manchester and Birmingham; particularly with high-speed rail,” he said.
The MP suggested some Nationalists viewed London in a narrow, negative way but he wanted to start a conversation about how, with growing competition accelerated by increased devolution for England’s northern cities, the economic dynamo that was London could benefit Scotland to help make it a “Scottish powerhouse”.
He added: “We’ve always had this thing in Scotland that London is this great, big evil thing, but we need to learn how to deal with it. The reason for making the argument for HS2 to start in Scotland as well as London is we need to begin looking at the opportunities this can bring.
“Of course, having this major financial centre less than 400 miles away is a challenge but we need to be asking ourselves what are the opportunities in terms of business and, say, attracting international students to Scotland, as well as professionals, who might want to live and establish families in Scotland.”
Mr McDonald said the conversation about Scotland’s relationship with London had to involve a wide range of people from business leaders to trade
unionists as well as politicians so it could generate ideas to make Scotland more competitive.
“It would be a real shame if we were to miss out on investment in such things as science, research and the financial sector because of the growth in England’s northern powerhouse and if we miss out on high-speed rail connections to London.”
The MP, a member of the Commons Transport Committee, said creating a Scottish powerhouse involved gaining enhanced ‘Smith-plus’ powers for Scotland and ensured HS2 not only began its life in England but in Scotland too.
“The UK Government has to get its act together to ensure there is high-speed capacity across the whole of Britain; we’re so far behind Spain, France and America, countries that understand the benefits of high-speed rail.”
He added: “At the moment, we are running a 21st-century economy with a Victorian rail infrastructure. HS2 cannot simply be an infrastructure project for England; it should start from Scotland so Scots get the full benefits too.”
Yesterday, Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary, was in north-west England, promoting the UK Government’s northern powerhouse strategy.
In March 2014, Alex Salmond described London as the “dark star”, which had a tendency to suck in talent and money from other parts of the UK; what was needed, he argued was a “northern light” to rebalance the “economic centre of gravity of these islands”.
But Mr McDonald fears if Scotland does not exploit the opportunities offered by London, then the northern light will not be the likes of Glasgow or Edinburgh but Manchester and Birmingham.
THE news that support for the SNP in Scotland now exceeds 60 per cent is unbelievable (“SNP tipped for landslide in spite of doubts over Government”, The Herald, August 11). However, it was just as unbelievable when their support first exceeded 50 per cent. Nonetheless, the revelation that the same poll showed that there is widespread dissatisfaction with how the SNP have managed the NHS, education, policing and the economy raises serious questions about why Scots are backing the SNP.
The first and most obvious answer to this must be that the SNP are viewed as the best of a bad bunch. They have followed a populist agenda whilst the main opposition in Scotland has never regained the trust it lost when it backed the Iraq war. Whilst this situation is bleak for Scottish Labour, widespread dissatisfaction with the SNP may mean that their new leader will be able to begin to close the gap in the polls if trust can be regained.
However, to close the gap Labour will also have to counter the second reason the SNP have remained popular despite falling literacy, failures in Police Scotland and cuts to the NHS – nationalism. The SNP have succeeded to some extend in linking voting intention with identity. For a growing minority of Scots, politics is no longer about competence in office. The focus for them now is their national identity and which party best reflects that. This transition from ideology-based politics to one based on national identity is one every nationalist across time has sought to achieve. Everyone in Scotland should be concerned to see this raw and intolerant form of nationalism gaining ground.
The challenge for Labour’s new leader must therefore be to firstly regain trust in Scottish Labour and what it can deliver in Scotland. Secondly, the aim must be to move the political debate back to fixing Scotland’s problems and meeting its aspirations. Labour’s recovery shouldn’t be about Scotland v England, rich v poor or even right v left. It must be about convincing everyone that social justice is in their interest. Dr Scott Arthur, 27 Buckstone Gardens, Edinburgh. WHILST the recent TNS Poll confirms SNP support continues unabated, these figures give encouragement to other parties trying to recover from almost complete nationwide wipeout.
Apparently if the “unhappy” and “no opinion” SNP voters are collectively counted it reveals more than 64 per cent do not consider the Scottish Government is performing well on such key issues as the economy, NHS, education and crime and Police Scotland.
The SNP’s rocketing membership has been at the expense of other parties currently attempting to reinvent themselves from near oblivion. The test of this recent political migration will depend on the success or failure of the promises made.
Judged on the aforesaid figures there is a real possibility that the next migration will be one of emigration (from the SNP), but that is the challenge ahead not only for the SNP but for all who would not wish a oneparty state in Scotland. Allan C Steele, 22 Forres Avenue, Giffnock. THE latest TNS poll indicating voting intentions for Holyrood has sparked another round of accusations of Scotland becoming a “one-party state”, which is clearly a nonsense.
Contrast this with the actions of Scotland’s Governor-General, aka David Mundell, the sole Conservative MP in Scotland riding roughshod over the wishes of the Scottish people at Westminster. Which is more unacceptable? James Mills, 29 Armour Square, Johnstone. THE anger and disappointment of cancer patient groups at the refusal of the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) to make two drugs routinely available in Scotland to treat breast and prostate cancer is understandable (“Anger over refusal to accept cancer treatments for NHS”, The Herald, August 11).
It robs patients of a potential lifeline and hope but at the same time obviously the SMC must take the effectiveness and costs of the drugs into account in coming to a decision.
However, your columns also discuss the £150,000 Scottish Government grant to the organisers of the T in the Park festival (“‘SNP cronyism’ claim over grant given to T in the Park”, The Herald, August 11). I find it perverse that public money is freely available to support such events which should be self-financing, yet no money can be found to extend the lives of cancer sufferers. Does the SNP government not have its priorities wrong? Bob MacDougall, Oxhill, Kippen, Stirlingshire. THE Chinese have a curse, “may you live in interesting times”. With Labour leadership hopeful Jeremy Corbyn harking back to the Labour constitution of 1918 and Clause 4 (“Corbyn is correct to start debate on Clause 4”, The Herald, August 11) and the SNP back to pre-1707 is this the politics of Back to the Future? R Russell Smith, 96 Milton Road, Kilbirnie.