GRAHAM GRANT: Predictably, independence will be top of Swinney's to-do list… but with a bulging in-tray, here are the priorities he MUST focus on
He is on course to lead the SNP Government after his confirmation as party leader yesterday – but John Swinney faces a mountainous in-tray.
If appointed First Minister today, as expected, he has promised to reduce child poverty, work towards achieving ‘net zero’ carbon emissions, and create a ‘successful economy’.
But it’s a tough challenge – the proportion of children living in ‘relative poverty’ has risen to from 23 to 26 per cent between 2022 and 2023 – while Humza Yousaf dumped ambitious climate change targets.
Meanwhile, growth in Scotland has been running at roughly half the UK level since Nicola Sturgeon came to office in 2014.
Mr Swinney also pledged last week to improve delivery of public services, including the NHS, ‘so that people can see their lives are getting better as a result of the actions of their government’.
Yet health spending is set to fall – despite Mr Swinney’s decision as stand-in Finance Secretary in 2022 to hike taxes for higher earners, supposedly to boost ‘patient care’.
If appointed First Minister, John Swinney faces a mountainous in-tray, says Graham Grant
Predictably, he said Scotland could only prosper if it had the powers of a ‘normal country’ as he signalled a ramping-up of independence rhetoric in the run-up to the general election, expected later this year.
Yet there are many more pressing issues after nearly 20 years of Nationalist failure and incompetence.
Here are the key policies which the prospective First Minister should prioritise – but don’t be surprised if very few of them materialise...
TAXATION
More than 1,000 higher and top earners have fled Scotland to escape the SNP’s punitive taxes – the highest in the UK.
In a triple whammy announced in December’s Budget, a 45p income tax band has been introduced on earnings above £75,000; the top rate on earnings above £125,140 has risen by 1p to 48p; and the higher rate threshold has been frozen at £43,663.
Someone earning a £35,000 salary is paying £61 more in Scotland than the rest of the UK, rising to £442 at £45,000, £1,696 at £55,000, and £2,096 at £75,000.
Taxes must be slashed to turn Scotland into a magnet for entrepreneurs – increasing the number of taxpayers and kick-starting moribund growth.
BUSINESS RATES
Sky-high business rates are helping to kill off struggling high streets – but the SNP has refused to provide desperately needed relief for firms clinging to survival.
The UK Government is offering 75 per cent rates relief in the hospitality, retail and leisure sectors in England.
But Finance Secretary Shona Robison snubbed calls for similar moves in Scotland – which has been blamed for contributing to the loss of 29,000 retail jobs.
Businesses are crying out for respite from a crippling tax regime.
SCHOOLS
Exam pass rates slumped to their lowest level since before the pandemic last year – and many children appear to have dropped out of state education.
Nearly one in three Scots pupils are deemed to be ‘persistent absentees’ after missing 10 per cent or more of the school year.
Mr Swinney should ensure his Education Secretary steps up efforts to crack down on truancy.
Stricter discipline is crucial to tackle classroom violence and to provide a peaceful learning environment – meaning there must be an immediate ban on mobile phone use during lessons.
HEALTH
John Swinney promised a ‘penny for patient care’ when he increased the higher rate of tax back in 2022 – but there’s little evidence that the NHS has benefited from the extra cash.
More than 830,000 Scots are on waiting lists for operations, tests and outpatient appointments. This figure is now at an all-time high and has risen by 182,448 since 2021.
Mr Swinney’s strategy should be two-pronged: first, he must reduce waiting times and restore in-person GP appointments for all patients who want them.
But he must also order a review of how the NHS is funded and how (or if) it can cope with rising demand – and make sure taxpayers’ cash is getting to the frontline of care rather than being spent on wages for fat-cat managers.
OUT-OF-WORK SCOTS
One in 20 working-age people has never done a day’s work in their life in parts of Scotland, and the number has rocketed since the SNP came to power.
Creating more jobs and encouraging people into the workforce would cut the enormous benefits bill, with the social security budget forecast to come close to an eye-watering £8billion a year by 2028.
Yet the SNP is pushing a four-day week, and it backs a Universal Basic Income – which could cost up to £20billion a year.
These pie-in-the-sky ideas should be ditched in favour of a strategy to get people into jobs. Economic growth cannot be achieved by spending more on state handouts.
JUSTICE
Police are refusing to investigate ‘minor’ crimes while at the same time millions of pounds is being wasted on diversity staff.
Rank-and-file officers now fear the service is being turned into a purely reactive force.
Cash-starved Police Scotland must be adequately funded to reverse a manpower crisis and replace second-rate technology.
The Scottish Sentencing Council (SSC) – set up by the SNP – has drawn up absurd guidelines urging leniency for offenders under the age of 25 on the grounds of their allegedly immature brains.
These should be scrapped, with a review of the SSC to ensure that it is working in the interests of victims.
DRUG DEATHS
Shocking figures last week showed Scotland’s drug deaths crisis has deepened, with substance abuse killing more than 20 people every seven days.
Suspected drugs deaths have soared 11 per cent in the latest three-month period, showing the failure of the SNP’s ‘national mission’ to tackle the crisis.
Police can hand out warnings to people caught with small amounts of cannabis, heroin and cocaine.
This is utterly wrong-headed. Instead, police should escalate the war on dealers, with more funding directed towards drug rehab and ‘cold turkey’ treatments.
TRANSPORT
Despite SNP promises that the dualling of the A9 and A96 would be prioritised, there has been little progress in delivering on both roads.
Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop has refused to guarantee that the A9 will be dualled by 2035 – the initial pledge made by the SNP was that the job would be done by next year.
Two new CalMac ferries being built at Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow are six years late – and will cost around three times the original price of £97million.
Urgent action is needed to salvage Scotland’s crumbling transport network to get the country moving again.
ENERGY AND DEFENCE
With its erstwhile Marxist coalition partners in the Green Party, the SNP has railed against oil and gas, opposing the development of new oilfields at every turn.
More than 100,000 jobs have been put at risk as a result, while the Nationalists have concentrated on a doomed crusade initiated by Alex Salmond to turn Scotland into the ‘Saudi Arabia of renewables’.
The SNP should also reverse its anti-nuclear stance on energy and defence, as its continued opposition to Trident missiles refuses to acknowledge the hard reality of the multiple threats now faced by the UK – and indeed the Western world.
