National interest served by SNP and Labour agreeing

IN THE current heightened state of political antagonism caused by the independence referendum, agreement of any kind between the SNP and Scottish Labour is rare. For the two parties to act in concert on a common cause is nothing short of remarkable.

And yet that is what we witnessed in the Scottish Parliament yesterday when Labour supported an SNP budget that contained new money to offset the effects of the hated “bedroom tax”.

In addition, there was agreement that both parties will work at local authority level to ensure no social housing tenant will face eviction as a result of a tax which has become, for many people, a 21st-century poll tax.

This newspaper long ago put on record its opposition to the bedroom tax – a Dickensian imposition on private life that dictated to families the sleeping arrangements of their children, and was a particularly cruel blow for households where one or more member was disabled or infirm. That this has now been neutered is a cause for celebration.

Inevitably there were those in both parties last night trying to claim sole credit, accusing the other of a “u-turn” that finally made agreement possible.

We should draw a veil over such claims. This, instead, is a moment for all to savour. It is also, if we may venture a tentative hope, a sign of how Scottish politics is capable of operating when Labour and the SNP are not locked in a perpetual death grip with their hands tightly around each other’s throats.

The SNP’s agreement to this plan is a significant move in the context of the referendum. Only a few months ago the Yes campaign was arguing that the only way to protect Scotland from the tax was to vote Yes.

This has subsequently been shown not to be the case. Holyrood has now ameliorated the effects of the tax. Additionally, Westminster government sources have indicated that power over housing benefit could be de- volved to Scotland in the event of a No vote in September.

The SNP will still be able to argue that a policy such as the bedroom tax would be highly unlikely in an independent Scotland. But yesterday’s actions may have diminished the use of the tax as a political weapon in the referendum.

Labour’s guns have also been somewhat spiked. No longer can they claim Scotland is “on pause” while the SNP government concentrates on constitutional issues.

So, honours even. But can we expect more of the same? In Germany, Angela Merkel last year formed a grand coalition with the social democrats, her traditional rivals. It has produced an impressive government of national unity.

Is it possible to envisage such an outcome in Scotland, with the best minds of both the SNP and Labour working together in the national interest? Perhaps, in the current climate, that is rather too much to ask. But it is a beguiling thought.