John Swinney could light a path through the far-right fog
We've gone past the protest vote stage, and shifted to increasing adherence to an imagined world of tidy moral sorting, in which only the 'deserving' are allowed a stake. As Feher notes, and as Assa Samake-Roman rightly amplifies, this is not an accidental by-product of voter alienation, it's a stepping stone to unchallenged domination.
READ MORE: John Swinney launches report showing Scotland 'must be in charge of destiny'
In that context, the leaked comments of Patriotic Alternative founder Mark Collett (as published in The Sunday National on May 18) are essential reading. Collett boasted of 'massive shifts in the Overton Window' and spoke openly of influencing Reform UK from within by fielding covert candidates. When bad-faith actors say the quiet part out loud, it's a good idea to take them seriously.
So far, too few have done so. Labour won't, as they're too busy dancing to the tunes of Thatcher and Blair while invoking the ghost of socialism past. The LibDems are lost in a sea of 'balance,' on a novelty inflatable, and Alba have mistaken grudge for principle. The Greens might be allies, but their opportunism will require some grown-up restraint that they know they're capable of, but seem to begrudge at times.
That leaves John Swinney almost alone in the political wilderness, with no dependable help coming. And yet, paradoxically, that might be where his strength lies.
If Swinney has the courage to channel his inner John the Baptist (now that actual Baptist John Mason is rightly in exile), he could use this moment to reframe the SNP's message. Rather than vaguely resisting the far right, he could name the ideological architecture that underpins it. He could show how SNP policies such as public ownership, progressive taxation, and free prescriptions counteract the moral rot of producerism not with slogans, but with solidarity.
READ MORE: UK 'feeding Scotland poison pills', John Swinney says
To do so would require abandoning defensive posturing and leaning fully into moral clarity. The right have not made gains because their ideas are better, they've done so because they've fabricated a more engaging story. The rapt audience hears a rousing tale of identity, contribution, and resentment in which they're the put-upon hero fighting off 'bad hombres', and the good guys win and make everyone rich.
Those on the relative-left (whose stance is actually not massively left-of-centre, but deeply grounded in nuance and justice) need to tell a different story: one that acknowledges complexity, foregrounds care, and reminds people that dignity is not a zero-sum game. We need to highlight the same old parasitism that prevails in Farage's fairy story.
Swinney cannot expect applause from the usual corners, but if he speaks clearly to those who still believe in decency and shared fate, he may yet light a path through the fog. He needs to offer hope, while properly addressing the very real threat posed by this perilous political shift.
Ron Lumiere
via email
IS honest John Swinney our latter-day Nero? The latest internet bot tried to persuade me that Nero fiddling while Rome burned had, like a lot of urban myths, no basis in historical fact – particularly since he was an accomplished lyre player and the fiddle hadn't yet been invented – but why let the facts get in the way of a good story?
However, it's a handy phrase when you want to describe someone ignoring a crisis or neglecting serious matters. The Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election isn't a serious matter in the grand scheme of things, but a mealy-mouthed approach to the impending Holyrood election most certainly is.
READ MORE: Yes campaigners react to John Swinney speech on independence
Last week we learned that Alexander Dennis is closing with the loss of 400 jobs. It is described as the largest bus and coach manufacturer in the United Kingdom, with a 50% market share in 2019, and is based in Larbert. You might expect the First Minister to come out fighting but instead he offers the usual platitudes … no stone left unturned, will explore all options.
How many times have we been here before? Last month we lost our one and only refinery and we all know about the reserved powers. But where was the fight, particularly since the company of billionaire Jim Ratcliffe was given a €700 million (£600m) UK Government guarantee to build a petrochemical plant in Antwerp, the biggest in 30 years? An industrial policy disaster for Scotland and surrendered without a fight.
READ MORE: New Dumfries and Galloway Council leader admits 'vulnerable' position
Swinney's steady-as-you-go attitude and trying to 'govern sensibly' to build support for indy simply won't wash any more. As for his wishy-washy Cabinet reshuffle … for one thing, the Constitution Secretary should have been reshuffled oot the door given his penchant for photo ops with the Israeli ambassador. His real and culpable failure, however, is being taken in by civil servants and studiously ignoring the opportunity for our country's freedom presented by incorporating the UN's International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights into Scots law. The Covenant is unambiguous, in Part 1 Article 1: 'All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.' Those behind the petition (PE2135) have clearly established the nonsense spouted by the civil service that adoption of the convention in an infringement of reserved powers in the Scotland Act.
The Great Fire of Rome lasted for six days and destroyed a large portion of the city, and rumours were that Nero ordered the fire so he could rebuild the city in his own image. God save us all from Emperor John's image of more and better devolution, which threatens an electorate so disillusioned that Holyrood will once again become a political enclave of North Britain.
Iain Bruce
Nairn
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The fact that the power to run another referendum remains with the UK Government is not the only bump in the road Swinney wishes to travel. His government's record of failure is another barrier to him achieving his ambition of shattering the Union. In yesterday's speech, the First Minister spoke of the ways in which Scotland had been held back by a 'broken' and 'failing' Westminster system. 'I have long believed,' he intoned, 'that Scotland is an afterthought to successive UK governments. 'Scotland is not on Westminster's radar in the same way, say, as London, the Midlands or the South East. 'It holds us back in ways big and small, leaving us waiting and praying, hoping that decisions taken at Westminster are not too damaging. 'We are prey to a broken system and a failing economic model – a system that delivers for a very few at the very top, while living standards stagnate and real wages are squeezed for the vast majority.' I have no doubt that this 'analysis' will satisfy nationalist fundamentalists for whom 'independence, nothing less' is the sole objective. But others may, I must inform Mr Swinney, have noticed that, for the past 18 years, the SNP government has taken the vast majority of decisions relating to public services in Scotland. Our NHS is not in crisis because of the actions of politicians at Westminster but because of the failure of the SNP to invest and reform. Standards in Scottish schools have not plummeted because of the decisions taken by successive Prime Ministers in London but because of the neglect of the Scottish Nationalists. Given the powers of the Scottish Government he leads, Mr Swinney's claim that Scots are 'prey' to a broken system is beyond laughable. The First Minister's characterisation of Scotland as victim of the Union is further undermined by the latest spending review, announced last week, by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, which will see Scottish Government coffers swell with an extra £9.1billion. When, two decades ago, the SNP moved from the fringes of Scottish politics to become the dominant force, the claim that the UK Government had forgotten Scotland had real power. Disillusionment with Tony Blair's Labour Government was widespread in Scotland and the Nationalists, under the late Alex Salmond, had real energy. But it's a very long time since the SNP could credibly blame 'Westminster' for Scotland's ills. Under the Nationalists, our devolved parliament has gained greater powers, including over taxation, yet these steps on the road towards independence have not improved living standards for Scots. Fighting to save his job, John Swinney wishes us to believe that Scotland will only truly prosper when it finally frees itself of the ties of Union. The truth is that the SNP government is to blame for the parlous state of Scottish public services. John Swinney and the SNP do not hold the solution to Scotland's problems. Rather, they are the cause of them.
