THE Scottish National Party conference would not be worthy of its name if it did not feature a liberal sprinkling of quotes from the national bard, who is frequently cited, by everyone from rank-and-file delegates to Alex Salmond, as a source of wisdom and inspiration.
O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us
So as they gather in Perth today for what is potentially the most important conference in the party’s history, the SNP should collectively recall Burns’s words in To a Louse.
For having finally secured the referendum on independence they have long sought, it will not just be the Scots, or even the British, who will be observing the Nationalists this weekend. The eyes of the world will be on them, and the SNP should be wary of becoming enveloped in an introspective mindset, often a danger at gatherings of a committed cadre of activists. If they are wise and canny, they should think not so much about how they see themselves but how they are seen by others – by the people who will vote in the coming referendum; by our neighbours in what for now remains the United Kingdom; and by those watching from across the globe as events unfold in Scotland.
With this in mind, how the conference is conducted is important. How the SNP carries itself matters. And there will be no better example of this than the debate over whether the party supports an independent Scotland becoming a member of the Nato military alliance.
For obvious reasons, the issue stirs great passions on both sides. Nationalists like MSP Marco Biagi, who writes in The Scotsman today, believe that a party which supports unilateral nuclear disarmament should not be part of an alliance which relies, ultimately, on nuclear weapons.
Others, including defence spokesman Angus Robertson and most of the party leadership, believe that supporting membership of Nato, alongside a pledge not to house nuclear weapons, would demonstrate that the Nationalists are serious about real politik and, therefore, about independence and the choices it brings.
Without expressing an opinion on the larger issue of sovereignty for Scotland, this newspaper has long believed that Mr Robertson is on the right side of this argument, but what matters this week in Perth is that dissenting voices are heard and that debate is not suppressed, as it often is, not just in the SNP but most mainstream parties.
On a wide range of vital issues – from Nato to the currency, from defence contracts to immigration, from financial regulation to taxation – the people have a right to expect the SNP to spell out in detail, and with clarity, its policies for independence. Seeing itself as others see it is an important part of that pre- referendum process.
Action, not words, needed on jobs
There are now close to a quarter of a million people out of work in Scotland, as the unemployment total north of the Border rose for the second month in a row. If the upward trend shown in yesterday’s figures continues, it will not be long before one in four of our young people is out of work.
Scotland’s position is worryingly different from that of the UK as a whole, where both unemployment generally, and youth unemployment in particular, are falling. The Scottish unemployment rate is at 8.2 per cent, above the 7.9 per cent average for the UK.
Why? According to Professor David Bell of Stirling University, the contrasting performance stems from a relatively weak level of demand for labour north of the Border and the weak recent performance of our service
sector. If we accept his analysis and accept, as most reasonable people do, that joblessness scars our society, what then can be done?
First, it would be helpful if politicians stopped claiming greater influence over the figures than their actions merit. It was not long ago that the SNP was pointing to Scotland’s better position relative to the UK as proof its supposedly more interventionist policies were bearing fruit.
Secondly, and more importantly, politicians at Holyrood and Westminster could take some action. The ideas put forward yesterday by the Scottish Chambers of Commerce are worthy of serious consideration. They called on the Scottish Government to freeze business rates for 2113-14 and for UK ministers to boost capital spending. There are no easy fixes, of course, but sensible, pragmatic measures like these would help combat the scourge of unemployment.