Three changes that would make Holyrood work – at last

WHEN Boris Johnson said devolution in Scotland had been a disaster there were screams of outrage from almost every quarter.

The apoplexy of the nationalists knew no bounds – here was proof Johnson and the Tawrees hated Scotland.

In fact most English – of whatever political persuasion – I meet have the opposite view. They have great affection and respect for Scotland and value its place alongside them in the British union. I have no doubt Boris Johnson also holds that view.

What those who want to split up the UK try to pin on Johnson is that he was saying those odious little Scots, how dare they, don’t have the ability to manage the bulk of their own internal affairs themselves and devolution is, as a matter of principle, a bad thing. This is, of course, an unfair slur, a deliberate distortion of the point the Prime Minister was trying to make.

What he was actually saying was that devolution in Scotland, as put into practice by the SNP Government, had been a disaster.

Scots don’t like to hear this, somebody not from Scotland pointing out that our government has made a pig’s ear of things is an uncomfortable message. Yet the evidence there is truth in that view is overwhelming.

Is our health service or are our schools in good shape? Have our roads got less potholes? Has the Scottish Government made a great success of ferry procurement, aluminium smelters, wind turbine factories or airports? Has Scotland’s economic growth rate been better than that of the rest of the UK? Have we a lesser drug problem or a lower suicide rate?

Have we been any better at handling Covid?

The answer to all these questions – important questions for Scotland – is No. Scotland’s SNP Government have been in charge for well over a decade and they have made a hash of it.

There are three essential problems. The first is that the SNP don’t want devolution to work, they want it to fail. Instead of working with the UK Government to the benefit of the people of Scotland they work against it to our detriment.

The second is that SNP ministers and MSPS are almost universally useless. In particular, they have very little experience of how money is made, only how it is spent.

Third, the Holyrood system has become rotten. The SNP and Greens came together to game the electoral system for their mutual benefit and the committee system spectacularly fails to hold the executive to account. The result is an arrogant and complacent Government which has been in power for too long. Three things would help the situation. First, the UK Government should make it clear there will not be another referendum on the break up of the UK unless a resolution passed by two-thirds of the Scottish Parliament requests it. The SNP guff about a simple parliamentary majority being a mandate for another referendum is just that – guff. The result of a referendum on a specific issue trumps the results of elections which are a reflection of voters’ views on many issues unless the desire of the people to look again at the specific issue becomes overwhelming.

The UK Government should also make it clear that were the two thirds hurdle ever to be passed the UK Government, with the help of the Electoral Commission, would run any referendum. There was too much gerrymandering in 2014 – and even then many more Scots voted No than Yes.

In reality, the proportion of Scots who actually want Scotland to leave the United Kingdom is probably about a third. We need it to be clear a disruptive referendum is off the table so the Scottish Government has to concentrate on making devolution work for Scotland rather than rejoicing when they make it fail.

Second, all MSPS should have a 20% pay cut and be required to a get second job for at least a day a week. How much better it would be if the politicians in Holyrood actually knew what they were talking about.

Third, the defects in the electoral system for the Scottish Parliament have to be fixed. It is an insult to the electorate that the Greens do not contest all the constituency seats but can participate fully in the regional lists. Without a Green candidate, Green supporters vote SNP in the constituencies which helps the SNP win marginal seats.

SNP voters return the favour by switching to the Greens in the regional list who then get too many seats relative to their real support. The result is a distortion which artificially boosts the number of MSPS who support the break up of the UK. This must be stopped, to be on the regional list a candidate must also stand in a constituency.