So Nicola Sturgeon achieved nothing? What a load of nonsense

The Herald Scotland

21 hours ago

I have not read the memoir - time has not permitted. And the noisy reaction from some quarters has been of no real interest – it has not triggered any impulse to delve deeper to find out what the fuss is about.
All of this sound and fury is to be expected, and much of it has come from people with political views very different to those of the former first minister or from those at odds with Ms Sturgeon on particular issues.
The publication of the memoir has, however, also led to assessments of what Ms Sturgeon achieved during her long time as first minister, from November 2014 to March 2023.
And this, from a personal perspective, is a more interesting aspect.
It has seemed that many people have been almost falling over themselves to flag their withering opinions on this front, with a black-and-white view that 'nothing' or close to nothing was achieved.
From a business and economic perspective, and from a societal point of view, that seems like a most unfair conclusion. Thankfully, some assessments have been more positive, but these seem to have been drowned out somewhat.
Ms Sturgeon's relationship with the business community, certainly from the perspective of the latter, seemed to deteriorate significantly amid the coronavirus pandemic.
What is often forgotten is the period before that, when you could have taken the view that business was surprisingly positive about Ms Sturgeon. After all, many company leaders were and are vehemently opposed to independence, not infrequently because of personal political or ideological views but also for some because of fears about the effects of constitutional change.
Touching briefly on the pandemic, you might have thought Ms Sturgeon's approach would have been appreciated by more business leaders. There was a steadiness about it, in contrast to the toing and froing and all the drama from former prime minister Boris Johnson.
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We should also remember Ms Sturgeon argued eloquently and convincingly during this period against the hard Brexit delivered by Mr Johnson, which continues to cost businesses the length and breadth of the UK so dearly and to hammer the country's beleaguered economy.
And there were surely few if any moments, for all the hue and cry from some in the business community, when it could have been argued that Ms Sturgeon and the Scottish Government were being far too cautious with the pandemic restrictions and lockdowns. That said, a narrative nevertheless developed during that period that the Scottish Government was not on the side of business.
Leaving the politicking and emotion fuelled by Ms Sturgeon's memoir to one side and taking a detached look at her time as first minister, without having read the book, it is not at all difficult to immediately identify other major positives.
Ms Sturgeon was first minister when the Scottish child payment was introduced in 2021.
This continues to be an extremely important source of support for low-income families in Scotland, now amounting to a weekly payment of £27.15 for every child under 16 years of age.
And it is all the more crucial given the savage welfare cuts at a UK level that began when the Tories came to power in 2010.
Given the Scottish Government's very limited powers in this area, the Scottish child payment is a huge deal.
And it is simple arithmetic that giving money to people who have to spend all or the vast bulk of their income to live feeds through directly to aggregate demand, thereby boosting the economy.
Former Conservative prime minister David Cameron and erstwhile chancellor George Osborne highlighted the importance of welfare spending to growth when they cut it savagely and hammered the UK economy.
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Claiming we were 'all in this together', they implemented a corporation tax cuts bonanza, which failed miserably to boost investment and the economy as they claimed it would, as company bosses hung on to the windfall or distributed it to shareholders while the population at large was made to pay the price for the global financial crisis.
Ms Sturgeon also, during her time as first minister, stuck steadfastly in straitened financial times and amid grim budget squeezes coming from Westminster with the SNP's commitment to free university tuition for students ordinarily resident in Scotland and doing their first degree.
This is so important in ensuring the talent pool is not diminished by restricting access to higher education to those able to pay for it or willing to take on huge amounts of debt.
If we are serious about having a highly skilled workforce, free university tuition is essential.
It was lamentable to see Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer go back on a previous pledge on free university tuition in England.
Under 'social justice', one of Sir Keir's 10 pledges in 2020 when he was standing for Labour leader, the politician promised to 'support the abolition of tuition fees and invest in lifelong learning'.
However, asked about this pledge in spring 2023 on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Sir Keir replied: 'We are likely to move on from that commitment, because we do find ourselves in a different financial situation."
The trebling of tuition fees in England under the Cameron administration looked at the time like a politically driven move to narrow access to higher education, and it continues to do so.
Of course, Ms Sturgeon could probably have done some things better on the business and economic front.
It was unnecessary for her to pass an opinion that the proposed giant Cambo oil field off Shetland should not get the green light.
The decision rested in any case with the UK Government.
And the North Sea is still such an important provider of employment, directly and through the supply chain, and still makes a huge contribution to the Scottish economy.
Having said that, there were far more positives than negatives from a business and economic perspective when Ms Sturgeon was first minister, even if the pluses seem very under-appreciated now.
Perhaps the best overall assessment of Ms Sturgeon's time in charge is to be gleaned from examining the foreign direct investment (FDI) numbers over the period in which she was first minister.
This, after all, gives a cold, objective view of the merits of Scotland as a place to do business in a global context.
Companies look at many factors, including workforce skills and the stability of government and policymaking.
In 2022, the last full year in which Ms Sturgeon was first minister, a then record 126 FDI projects were secured by Scotland, figures from accountancy firm EY revealed.
This was up from 122 in 2021, and the 3.3% increase in the number of projects secured by Scotland in 2022 contrasted with a 6.4% decline in the UK as a whole that year.
EY's Ally Scott said at the time: 'Scotland put in another powerful performance on FDI in 2022, securing record inward investment projects and UK market share.'
The accountancy firm, publishing figures for 2024 this summer, highlighted the fact Scotland has been second only to London in terms of the number of FDI projects won in every year since 2015. That is mightily impressive.
And those who would claim Ms Sturgeon achieved nothing, or was somehow detrimental to business and the economy, should reflect on this, once the emotion subsides a bit.