No election until 2021 so it’s time politicians got down to business

BUSINESS MATTERS

AFTER a period of virtually non-stop campaigning and political combat, Scotland now faces no elections and no referenda on the immediate horizon. How will we cope with this period of peace?

By getting down to business – or so we hope.

There are three and half years until the Scottish Parliamentary Election of May 2021. The Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC) Network sees this fallow period as an opportunity to focus on the ends and purposes of politics, as opposed to its processes. Last week we held a Parliamentary Reception at the Scottish Parliament.

Our host Ruth Davidson and guest of honour Derek Mackay pledged on behalf of all parliamentarians present to listen carefully to our concerns as Scotland’s leading business network.

In a rare outbreak of agreement, the opposing politicians acknowledged promoting a stronger economy was now more of a priority than, in Ms Davidson’s phrase, “knocking lumps out of each other” in the political arena.

SCC sees this is an important and encouraging development. Nobody expects political hostilities to cease, nor should they. But we welcome the increasing taste for co-operative, partnership working, and pledge to play our part.

Business should not be seen as a “lobby”, to be kept at armslength at best or penalised at worst. Business is not a supplicant or a vested interest, but an equal partner whose profits pay for public services.

SCC believes the crowdsourced intelligence of our network’s 11,000-member businesses is the best guide to what helps and what hinders successful business in Scotland. Politicians who respond positively to our priorities can claim credit for boosting Scotland’s currently lacklustre economic performance.

The last thing needed is for the current cross-party auction of tax-raising rhetoric to become high-tax reality. Such promises may provide short-term political benefits in the current Scottish context, but it will always be poor economics when Scotland has to compete with the rest of the UK for investment and jobs.

Through its emerging internationalisation programme, and through successful schemes such as business mentoring, the SCC is more than ready to play its part in fulfilling the Scottish Government’s aim of making Scotland the best place in the UK to run a business.