Making new friends
I enjoy the company of folk in business.
They frequently have an intriguing take on authentic politics - the real stuff that affects real people, as distinct from the partisan piffle that mostly masquerades as political discourse.
Over the past year, I have been struck by the extent of goodwill in the Scottish business community towards the SNP administration.
Partly, that's the result of assiduous lobbying, most notably by Jim Mather, over a prolonged period, starting years before the SNP took power at Holyrood.
Partly, it's the background of senior Ministers. Alex Salmond was an economist for the Royal Bank; John Swinney had a career in finance; Jim Mather and Stewart Stevenson both have business backgrounds. They talk the talk.
That talk includes a pro-business emphasis - stressing the objective of economic growth, cutting business rates, especially for small firms, scrapping bridge tolls.
However, an alternative analysis was offered to me recently in a chat with a fairly senior business person.
She reckoned that Scots business folk warmed to Mr Salmond because they liked the sense of confidence he exudes.
Budget constraints
More to the point, many Scots business people had been patronised at some point in their career by headquarters, possibly a remote headquarters.
To be frank, they secretly crave to stick it to the boss - just like Salmond sticks it to Westminster.
Fascinating notion, isn't it? Further, it appears to be borne out by a poll in The Scotsman which indicates folk in business mostly think the SNP is doing a good or excellent job in office.
It may all change, of course. The honeymoon will end.
Opposition claims that there will be problems down the line as a result of budget constraints may prove well founded.
Right now, though, the first minister is able to mark the anniversary of his election victory with signs of continuing popular support.
And that would appear to extend to the business community.
I'm 
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~57~RS~)
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brian you said
They talk the talk
they dont just talk the talk they walk the walk.
as for your comment that the honeymoon will end.
Honeymoons usally last for a month at the most well any i have been on or witnessed anyway.
I think its time the media realised this isnt a honeymoon but a successful MARRIAGE between the snp and scotland.
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Brian
We also need to remember the background to all this. How many political commentator's said the SNP would not be able to form a government? How many said their term in office would be counted in months? How many said they would never get their budget passed.
How many are now saying this is a honeymoon period? This is no honeymoon, this is a shifting of the political balance in Scotland that has never been seen before. I am amazed when I talk to some people who I put in the "my father voted Labour and I always will camp" who are now saying the like what they see with good government and will now vote SNP.
To me the most telling point in the Telegraph poll is the fact that a Labour leader in Scotland is polling way behind a Tory leader in Scotland. If that is not a sign that the game is nearly up for Labour nothing is.
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Theres still plenty of people I know that will always vote Labour .
Given up even asking what they dont like about the government without the usual unionist rant that follows about how they have done nothing for anybody.
Worse thing is two of the most inteligent people I know seem to be in this camp
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This really comes as no great surprise that the business community are comfortable with the SNP's attitude to them.
Alex Salmond and most of the SNP politicians around him come from "professional" backgrounds unlike some of the trade union dinosaurs that the Labour Party attracts.
Keep up the good work.
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Very interesting analysis. In many ways I think this reflects the fact that the SNP 'keep' their most experienced politicians at Holyrood, whilst the other Unionist parties 'big hitters' are lured to what they view as bigger jobs at Westminster. Without causing mischief I wonder if the same happens to the business leaders the SNP are talking to!
On a related theme (politics). Your other column today mentions the lack of regular opinion polls of late in Scotland in which to track public political opinion. Isn't this what you need in your department to do a real job of reporting on popular political opinion - please get your bosses to commission one (or maybe that's what you are hinting your frustration at?)
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Our greedy business community, snouts wedged in the trough, will cosy up to anyone who ignores the slavering cycle of golden hellos, inflated salaries, obscene pension funds, and disgusting payoffs. The mess we're in is their fault. Be clear, this is not a "global crisis" outwith control. Who bought those dodgy American loans, without even knowing who the borrowers were?
If the SNP is comfortable with them, they could be guilty by association. But I accept that the Nats, like all parties, want a good economy.
Alex Salmond, economist with the RBS? I'd keep that quiet in the present climate! But he should know how to pick his friends.
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It seems that Business Leaders are reassured that Scotland's future will be brighter under the SNP than it would be under a Labour Party still too fond of "Central Planning" and "State Direction". With Wendy ("I'm a Socialist" ) Alexander giving The Comrades "That Old Time Religon" at Labour Conference,it must be heartening to potential investors in Scotland that we have a Government that is more likely to favour a Swiss economic model ,than the East German one apparantly still favoured by many in Labour circles.
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The only good news for Gordon Brown is that there were no elections in Scotland yesterday.
Business thrives on confidence and the CBI regularly measures it so to have a government that exudes confidence, and not the negativity of sour grapes Labour, is bound to have a positive effect.
The PM is a lame duck but as with all those in power over the centuries they are always the last to see it.
After 10 elections, both for Westminster and Holyrood, when Labour could count on my vote to keep the Tories out and deliver devolution I'm afraid they've lost it for good.
Cameron in No 10 in 2010 will herald a new era in UK politics that will either result in independence for Scotland or a sensible federal structure that works successfully in many other countries.
The status quo is simply not an option.
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I was never in favor of an union independent Scotland because of the negative effect it would have on the rest of Britain. But the SS Great Britain is sinking due to abuse of civil rights by its political masters. It is refreshing to see this new Scotland being developed for the people. Well Salmon you get my vote now and a lot of other English who are now shorting a tartan for new clans. This is not a honeymoon but an old marriage that has been given a new lease of life and hopefully the politicians in Edinburgh and the Scottish business community will not abuse this new lease of life.
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Is it beyond all reason to suggest that business people, and the public, like Alex Salmond, and like SNP policies and believe we could do better if we had more say over what happens in our own country.
There is a political shift in Scotland people are believing, when they have had so little to believe in for three hundred years. Long may it continue and may it reach the conclusion which will give us all the right to choose our own future.
may it produce in Scotland the pride in our nation which we deserve.
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The polls in England following the elections yesterday indicate the Conservatives way out in front with Labour and the Lib Dems neck and neck as also-rans.
Could this be a premonition of what is happing in Scotland as the SNP continues to gain favour, the Tories gain credibility nationally and Labour loses credibility nationally?
My feeling is that a 2010 UK election will see the end of Labour's run in power, Gordon Brown off to a well paid job in The City and the implications for Scotland for 2011 will mean the SNP out in front with Labour the Tories and LibDems a good 10 points behind in the polls, similar to the situation in England today.
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Thank you for this balanced and enlightening item, Mr Taylor.
What a decent fair-minded chap you are.
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Brian the honeymoon ended months ago.
The reason for the continued SNP popularity is that Scots have realised that they are dealing with for the first time a very competent government who stand up for Scotland.
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Been a great couple of days, Labour humped in England and Wales,Gers in the UEFA cup final(how).Brown on the verge of a breakdown (I hope) but still believing all's well with the world, the man is in a world of his own. Of course big business likes the SNP, they will probably allow them to prosper and create employment in Scotland (not in the far east). Labour is totally devoid of any policies that are of any benefit to the people of Scotland because they are caught in the Westminster Labour time warp which does not want the people to prosper in case they don't need the state to hold their hand. If the employer doesn't make money, neither does the employee.Simple principle of the much maligned Thatcher who at least had the welfare of Britain at heart, not the welfare of layabouts, asylum seekers and immigrants who intend the country harm. This 10 years of Labour has destroyed all the national pride and self respect Thatcher gave the country after the previous spell of Labour government reduced Britain to "the sick man of Europe".
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Kaybraes:
I think you made a mistake, are you sure you didn't mean to send that message to
OldThatcherites'r'us@DailyTelegraph.co.uk?
As far as I can tell the immigrants I see are all working hard and contributing plenty. As for asylum seekers, if not here then where? The asylum seeker problem, such as it is, is one of policy implementation. You can no sooner decry an asylum seeker than you would a starving man that takes an apple from a tree. It is an act of necessity. Blame not the poor and the needy my child, blame Broon/Bliar.
On the topic that Brian mentions, I suspect that business likes the SNP because the SNP will deal with the highest bidder, not the bidder with the highest backhander. Did we ever get to the bottom of Alexander's fund manager (the one that resigned, but kept his salaried job...) he took money from property developers for WA's campaign...and he was involved in planning applications...not that there's a conflict of interest, no no...not at all.
So you can see why business likes SNP, they favour Scotland, not the West of Scotland.
Over and out.
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The honeymoon is certainly not yet over. Repeated polls have shown that the SNP's once hefty lead over Labour has been steadily chipped away over the past 5-6 months, from 11%+ last year to just 5% now.
The SNP's panacea for every problem so far has been to central funding and control. Examples:
*The Forth bridges now need to be maintained out of Holyrood's budget instead of by users.
*The small percentage of prescriptions that weren't already free are now also subsidised by Holyrood.
*Council taxes have been frozen by further subsidies from Holyrood.
*Student fees, a motivator for students to complete and pass their expensive courses, are now paid for by Holyrood.
*The ferries are now subsidised further by Holyrood.
*The SNP's proposed LiT, already run from the centre, also requries excessive subsidies from Holyrood to fill in a multi-million black hole. (The irony that this will end all local fiscal autonomy seems lost on an FM who is fighting for more fiscal powers himself.)
All these, and more, have been paid for by dropping the manifestom pledge to cut class sizes, cutting University budgets, cuts to voluntary services, cuts to public transport subsidies and so on.
All we have seen is the SNP spending money on some services and we have yet to see the costs of the cuts to many other services. When that becomes apparent, that dwindling support will drop further.
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Reluctant Ex Pat, my how I laughed!
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Perhaps the really scary thing for the SNPs' opponents is that the honeymoon may well be over, but the current administration still comes over as more competent and sensible than any other we've had, and most certainly more sensible and competent that any available alternative.
To put it another way, even without the Wendy factor, the SNP look good. Take her into account and they seem positively stellar.
Meanwhile, I wonder if the Lib Dems are yet having a bout of "what might have beens" at consigning themselves to what looks like long term opposition when the opportunity of sharing power within a genuinely successful government might have been within their reach?
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Kluseau is right. As an SNP opponent it scares me that they're on top by default. As Kluseau says, the available alternatives are appalling.
That of course does not make the SNP right about anything. It just means they are not challenged competently. Serious people in any party value serious opposition pushing out the boundaries of ideas.
No amount of triumphal letters to the press and blogs can disguise the flaws in SNP policy and action. That is not meant to be insulting. It would be the same for any party in power without hard questions being asked.
What we don't have in Scotland, and it's an argument against independence perhaps, is our best people in politics. We do have good, respected people. But they don't want to enter a bear pit to be baited by inadequates. Too many in politics, regardless of party, are just happy to be there, picking up the money, and, with luck, getting a hurl in a ministerial car.
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Scotland needs it's business community to be onside. Not in a party political way but in a practical realisation that Scots need jobs to live and thrive. Welfare is an option for too many of our citizens just now. A country can only be truly independent if it's people can fend for themselves without handouts and stand on their own two feet. We need to ween ourselves off Westminster and take responsibility for our future ourselves.
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"The SNP's panacea for every problem so far has been to central funding and control."
To be fair, the centralising trend began with the Lab-Lib coalition. Though it's got worse under the nats. How often do nationalist administrations throughout history pursue a decentralising agenda? Almost never.
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No WebPendragon the reality is that Labour does have a very long list of business supporters too and many of them are party members not just supporters. After all it was Labour politicians who delivered the Superfast ferry. Labour delivered subsidised and new air routes. These were llauded by the business community. Labour delivered on its promise to build a new Edinburgh Airport Rail Link - the SNP's first act was to destroy that and replace it with the most inefficeint unambitions replacement project which will in the future be rubished by the business community. Remember the SNP didn’t win by a landslide last May – it was one vote – so don’t get complacent or cocky. Labour’s share of the vote increased 5 percentage points up on the SNP in Dumfries yesterday. This is a reflection of the realisation of the people in Scotland that ordinary people are seeing that the SNP have broken the majority of its promises. The SNP, like the Tories, share the same priority it is always the tax cut. The SNP government doesn’t care about supporting elderly, disabled or frail people. The mantra is freeze the Council Tax or cut the business rates. Hang the consequences for the people who need help with shopping or a community alarm or a nursery place or a school where it has closed. Tough too if you need help being bathed or dressed. Old people now are being left to wither on the vine. MS patients who need care abandoned under the SNP The SNP’s priority is the accountancy approach. Balance the books not people’s needs. That's the mantra of the SNP across Scotland. Look at Aberdeen. In SNP-led Fife, home care charges are rocketing and people are stranded in hospital. In Grampian, there is the warning that front-line police budgets may be required to plug a gap in the pensions fund. In SNP-led East Lothian, schools have to contemplate not just efficiency savings but cuts in teacher numbers. The Government has broken promise after promise to achieve just two promises—the council tax freeze and the business rate cut. Promises on police numbers, class sizes, first-time buyer grants, support for special needs pupils and, of course, dumping student debt were all ditched. . That is the reality of the end of the first year of SNP in Government for many of our people.
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Anaxim,
The ending of ring fencing for Local Government is far more of a decentralising policy that anything that was administered by Labour or the vainglorious Tories before them.
I'd call that pretty stellar decentralising for a government.
Reluctant Expat
You accuse the SNP of resorting to central control and funding from the central budget -subsidising policies 0 and then, in the same spiel castigate them for cutting budgets elsewhere - and not enacting more expensive policies that would have to be subsidised from the central budget.
You can't have it both ways.
But in reality this is how governments operate. They allocate their scarce resources - and the Scottish Government does not have a bottomless pit of money - between their priorities, and what they believe in and what they want to do.
I'd much rather these small government expenditures (removal of bridge tolls, reduced prescriptions) were subsidised from the central cash pot, than Trident or the Olympic Games subsidised from that same central cash pot.
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Krupskya, your warbling selective amnesia and grotesque revisionism is truly soviet in its scale. Maybe Wendy is a socialist?
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Krupskya - the Labour vote did increase 5% in a council by-election in Dumfries as you mention. Strange that you never mentioned the collapse in England and Wales in a much larger scale, or the other council by-election where the SNP increasing its vote share by 15% and Labour were relegated to being included in the "others" category of press cuttings - behind the Tories and Liberals, yet again.
As a student who graduated last year, I know I am personally£2,300 better off than under Labour. Every council tax payer is better off than under Labour. Your revisionism is rather too blatant to be taken in any way seriously.
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Globaltraveller:
"The ending of ring fencing for Local Government is far more of a decentralising policy that anything that was administered by Labour or the vainglorious Tories before them.
I'd call that pretty stellar decentralising for a government."
They did that to balance the books, rather than any heartfelt desire for local control. With the national income tax, the councils will be dependent on central funding, limiting any flexibility from less ringfencing.
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pattymkirkwood - Mind thyself. But what about the disabled and frail elderly people now denied their shopping, their community alarms, their help from social services - this is the present reality nothing to do with rewriting the past history. All so that Salmond can deliver his business rate cuts and council tax freeze. A society is judged by how it treats the poorest and most vulnerable not in the SNP's Tory policies of cutting taxes for the already well off.
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Perhaps we need to ask Brian exactly why there is little or NO coverage of the Election News from down south on the BBC Scotland site.
Now yes we can click our little hearts out to instantly go there but that is not my point. You Brian are a commited unionist, and that is your right even though you are wrong. Is the BBC attempting to censor news on what is a very important political matter for Scots. I also notice that on the more Video/Audio button on this page that there is not one Scottish Political Programme listed with the latest Scottish Political News.
There is a case for arguing the point that we Scots are being discriminated against by the BBC in both Scotland and its London headquarters. Surely that is verging on the breaking of EU Rules.
The really great thing that will be happening is that both the Commision and the more relevant Conversation shall be devolving BBC Broadcasting to our own control. I would suspect that there are in fact many SNP supporters in the BBC who will feel free to express their thoughts without fear of loosing their jobs. Alex Salmond will in fact be liberating the Scottish Employees from Censorship.
Another great benefit of the SNP Scottish Government.
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Let's accept the SNP contributors' points in total, for the sake of peace. Could any one of them - and I hope there is more than one of them today, not a string of impostors - explain to a poor, benighted unionist the joy of tub-thumping and self-aggrandisement in the face of what they clearly see as non-opposition? Should you not be deeply worried by the lack of credible opposition? Would you not like to hear, at least, an alternative opinion? You don't have to agree, just listen and consider.
All the wisest politicians steal their oponents best ideas and present them as their own. Are you saying the SNP is infallible. That's steering very close to Soviet Communism you know.
The SNP has always been long on slogans, rhetoric, flag-waving parades, and sneering. But short on ideas and willingness to debate. Be a little devil - say something new today.
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Krupskya - all that you cite is nothing new and happened under Labour for eight years. Deny it if you want, but you know fine well Scottish councils have never been given adequate money to deliver on personal and nursing care pledges made from the centre.
This year - despite an unusually tight block grant from Westminster - councils have been given the biggest share of total spend in Scotland to date. They have also been freed to prioritise the areas that they think are most important. So can we please stop pretending that all these problems surrounding funding for the old and infirm appeared in the last 12 months? Because to claim that, is frankly laughable.
If the SNP cuts in tax are to be branded "Tory", presumably Gordon Brown's income tax cut funded by hitting the worst off (via the 10p tax hike) is "progressive" or even "socialist"?
brigadierjohn - I for one wish there was a credible alternative voice. The problem is Wendy and the Labour Party keep on shooting themselves in the foot, coming out with ludicrous statements like "10 out of 10". As for the Liberals - the less said about them and their staggeringly incompetent leader the better. The Tories, while I utterly disagree with them on most policy issues, have done well in the chamber. The problem is very few people see that, and they remain “The Tories” - little more than an insult to be traded back and forth - as you see above!
To compare the SNP to Soviet communism is rather uncalled for: after all, Scotland is a country emerging (under an SNP Government) from 50 years of cronyism flourishing under the Labour and then New Labour one party state.
Final point: you claim the SNP is unwilling to debate ... why is it then that the three unionist parties have refused to engage in the national conversation - which allows, indeed encourages, the expression of all views (from return all power to Westminster through to total independence)? Or failing that why have they not even included independence as an option in their own constitutional convention - even just to rubbish it?! It is the unionists that are afraid to hold a real debate (with people whom they disagree) on independence or more powers, on the EU treaty, on the future of PFI/PPP etc ...
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Security alert! I see "patrick henry76" (any relation perhaps to johnhenry76?) is over the shock of exposure and sticking his toe back in the water. Or is it "richard pritchard" or "john hancock" or all three?
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A few fair points there, pattymkirkwood. I agree with you on Labour and the Tories, particularly the cronyism of the former, and the rather unfortunate position of the latter.
But the issue of debate truly vexes me. As I have posted elsewhere, any pro-unionist comment is met with a blizzard of letters and blogs, some quite personally insulting, and many appear to be the work of letter-writing "factories" rather than the genuine opinions of individuals. I pointed this out and three names suddenly disappeared (but see above). This does not encourage fair-minded people to participate, but they will vote against the SNP.
Just one other point, certain "letter writers" aside, the SNP is human like the rest us us. You haven't had power long enough to develop cronyisn, nepotism, brown envelop-ism, and the delusion of untouchability. But I repeat, you are human.
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Gordon's just seen the latest Scottish poll figures putting the SNP at 45%.
http://cybernat.blogspot.com/2008/05/happy-birthday.html
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brigadierjohn - online "mobbing" of opponents by fanatics happens on both sides. For example, it is distinctly uncomfortable putting forward nationalist views on The Scotsman website for any length of time. It would do your argument good to acknowledge that this is not an exclusively "cyber-nat disease"! I have personally received threatening letters from as far afield as Dorset simply for advocating independence publicly. So, both sides have rather unsavoury contingents backing them.
I personally choose to post and write letters under my own name - perhaps if more people were to do so the current levels of paranoia would drop. I cannot comment on the "letter writing factories" you allude to, but again I suspect that this happens on both sides.
I am simply not equipped to definitively say who is and who is or is not a "troll"/ which views come from "identifiable people" or not ... therefore I offer no opinion on the matter. I suggest that even detailed monitoring of the views put forward by various named entities (and timing of posts) could not definitively establish whether or not they are in fact the same person, so I would discourage you from trying to name and shame as you appear to have above. It changes the tone of the discourse in unfortunate ways, and makes permanent the temporary loss of trust between contributors.
However, I acknowledge your point that power when not held in check by a competent opposition can be corrupting ... as I say look at Scottish Labour in past decades ... therefore as an SNP supporter I wish that Labour and the Liberals in particular would get their act together (to a degree) at Holyrood. If they were to stop constantly heckling when in the chamber, and set about the real job of opposition: providing proper scrutiny, it would be beneficial for all sides. Both former executive parties have the problem of inexperience in opposition. They both make the mistake of constantly crying "wolf", when a constructive approach in 90% of issues, and targeted attacks where they perceive the government to be weakest, would be far more effective for them. Wendy Alexander with her constant attacks (seemingly divorced from the political reality on the ground) runs the very real risk of being tuned out by many voters if she persists with this strategy ... which as you suggest may be of short-term benefit to my preferred party, but would probably do it no favours over an electoral cycle.
Thank you for your reply.
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We haven't forgotten how Wendy Alexander committed a crime and wasn't prosecuted for it.
At the next election she will find out what the people of Scotland really think about that.
In the meantime may Salmond "stick it to Westminster" for many more years to come!
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I almost smiled at brigadierjohn's remarks - he has clearly been damaged by 'big' business and is holding all those undealt-with emotional issues in waaay too tightly. I'm in business - in a tiny, self-employed way and I am not alone. Surely he's not tarring all businesses with the same brush?
I became self-employed as a result of redundancy from the public sector (yes, it'ss happening) , in a market that's surely going to feel the crunch first - complementary therapies. Thankfully, I can turn my hand to other things - and I will have to, if I am going to survive in my miniscule business.
SMEs make up a significant proportion of the Scottish business community - working all hours to survive in an ever-tightening economy, with rising overheads and reducing returns.
All sections of the business community are in a similar postion, to a lesser or greater extent. Perhaps for SMEs, it feels worse because there's little enough wiggle room.
Snap out of your red rage, bitter brigadierjohn - not all business is bad. Deal with it.
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Pattymkirkwood, I think I like you. Thanks for educating me on blogspeak. Mobbing and trolls are new to this sad old technophobe. Also, I think you are the first, and maybe only, SNP supporter to engage in a measured response. Certainly the only one who can see faults on both sides. I hope this is not in any way interpreted as patronising. I would hate if even partial praise from me damaged your credibility.
Regarding heckling, one man's heckling is another's debating style. I think the Nats are quite good at it, too. In fact, the Speaker should deliver a cross-party slapdown regularly.
Glenfaerie, undealt-with emotional issues? Well if a complementary (certainly not complimentary) therapist says so....
I'm not trained in these things, but is there a wee bit of paranoia within you? You say you almost smiled? Next time, just do it.
Of course I don't tar all business with the same brush. I clearly and specifically said the "greedy" element, prevalent among "big" business. I was thinking of the banks, and the more rapacious elements whose sole aim in life is wealth. I was in "Joe Public" mode, certainly not victim-mode. And don't pigeonhole me as a Socialist. I'm all for high wages and big incentives - but only within the profitability of the enterprise concerned. I've been redundant too, twice. I wish you good luck with your latest venture.
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Can you Brian or anyone out there answer this question:
Any comments I make on this blog are posted immediately, but whenever I try to post a comment on Nick Robinson's blog it never gets posted, so is there a Scotfilter at work here?
After today's report on skewed reporting on the BBC 'national' news in the Sunday Herald I am beginning to wonder if it prevades the whole of the so called 'One BBC', including the web site.
Is it me..............???
I once phoned up BBC Five Live's 606 only to be asked by a home counties female voice if I was an England fan, to which I replied 'I didn't know I had to be', and her response? 'Well we are looking for the views of England fans on tonight's programme.'
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Regarding online trolling, I think it's clear that the nationalists are the more passionate and committed, and are more likely to create online doppelgangers to get their message across. It's the same sort of thinking which has driven some nationalist to chalk 'END LONDON RULE' all over Edinburgh. According to nationalist ethics, the most noble goal any human can have is to serve their nation, so presumably this excuses minor infractions.
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The unionists in here always amaze me. They complain that the SNP did this and did that but the SNP is in a minority government and have managed to convince either the tories, labour or the Libs/Green to support there budget and freezing of the council tax.
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My oh my what a pickle New Labour have got themselves into.
However to take up the United Kingdoms argument but on a different slant, Canada which is Independent of Britain and Westminster control (It only happened in 1982)still has the Queen as head of state. http://www.answers.com/topic/constitution-of-canada?cat=biz-fin
Just as Westminster and Holyrood she sanctions "Her Government " but unlike in the UK she has a Governor General representing her in Canada and the other 14 Commonwealth realms.
If Scotland and England become politicaly independent of one another the monarchy will still allow us to be good neigbours.
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Brian:
It is always nice to make friends...
~Dennis Junior~
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