Leaders: Scottish Government must bring in the experts
RESISTING the temptation to apply the obvious epithet, the critique of the Scottish Government’s case for both independence and devo-max by Professor Arthur Midwinter of Edinburgh University’s Institute of Public Sector Accounting Research, which we carry today, could be fairly described as damning.
Drawing on many years’ experience as an analyst of public spending, including time spent as the adviser to Holyrood’s finance committee, Prof Midwinter is scathing about the “spin” which he says has been applied to figures presented as facts by the Nationalist administration at Holyrood as it seeks to make the case for independence.
Indentifying a theme highlighted in these columns on several occasions, Prof Midwinter states that the Scottish Government often presents unsubstantiated assertions as matters of fact. In one ironic example, he cites claims that Scotland’s economy is underperforming as part of the case for having more fiscal powers. It’s not, he says.
As was to be expected, the claims were last night hotly disputed by the Nationalists, who argued that the figures in the Government Expenditure and Revenue for Scotland (GERS) publication showed we were far better off than the UK as a whole, though the SNP could not resist the temptation to play the man, not the ball, highlighting Prof Midwinter’s work as an adviser to Wendy Alexander when she was Scottish Labour leader.
This response conveniently ignores the fact that when the SNP was in opposition John Swinney, now the finance secretary, would use Prof Midwinter’s research to berate the then Labour/Liberal Democrat Scottish Executive. More seriously, it also seeks to divert attention from the issue of the need for facts to be available to voters in advance of the independence referendum.
In this respect, Prof Midwinter’s most powerful contribution is not his criticism of the SNP’s figures, important though that is, but his plea for the Office of Budget Responsibility to be given a role in analysing financial information and the assumptions being made by politicians in the constitutional debate.
This call will strike a chord not just with ordinary voters, who are no doubt baffled by the claim and counter-claim, but also with many Scottish Government civil servants who feel under pressure to produce figures that suit the SNP’s case but are unable, out of loyalty to their political masters or perhaps fear of retribution, to speak out about their concerns.
Prof Midwinter’s idea should be given serious consideration. The OBR is a body created by the coalition government to analyse independently Whitehall spending, but it must be possible to make it accountable to Holyrood in this area in the same way it is proposed that the Electoral Commission will answer to the parliament over the referendum.
Nip this arrogance in the bud
FOR the second time in a month, the accusation of being “anti-Scottish” has been hurled by the SNP at political opponents. First there were claims by Joan McAlpine, an aide to First Minister Alex Salmond, that critics of the SNP’s referendum plans were “anti-Scottish”.
Now the accusation has been made again, this time by a member of the Scottish Cabinet. Education secretary Mike Russell declared in the Holyrood chamber yesterday that support for university tuition fees was “anti-Scottish”. Hugh Henry, Labour’s education spokesman, was right to respond that “what we are seeing now is a creeping arrogance and intolerance to anyone who dares to speak against the SNP”.
In the daily political rough and tumble, remarks are made that people regret and do not repeat. But little regret was evident last month, and no more now. This is more than a scraping of the rhetorical barrel. It is deeply offensive to many Scots who are proud of their country but now find their patriotism called into question and their views branded “anti-Scottish” for the simple reason that they do not accord with positions approved by the SNP.
It is a tactic intended to stigmatise, belittle and close down debate, and those who deploy it should not be at all surprised if their victims regard it as little short of fascism.
All Scots, of whatever persuasion, have ownership of the Saltire and their patriotism should not be questioned. This pathetic attempt to intimidate opponents should be nipped in the bud, and that should start with orders from the very top.
Big Yin in the bear pit
BILLY Connolly, Scotland’s premier comedian and national icon, has walked off the stage twice in the space of a week after being confronted by hecklers.
In the past, such interventions would be grist to Mr Connolly’s mill, the sparks that further drive the engine of his unsparing humour. But last Saturday he walked off the stage during a performance in Blackpool after being abused by a member of the audience, prompted by a particularly edgy racontage about strokes. The preceding week he cut short a performance in Scarborough by half an hour after being heckled by members of the audience who, in the diplomatic account of our reporter, “had dallied too long at the bar”.
It is a curious phenomenon of our age that audiences have grown at once more sensitive to the subjects of humour and at the same time, through their noisy and disruptive interruptions for drinks, toilet and cigarette breaks, insensitive to the requirements of live performance.
Indeed, comedy performances now have become something of a bear pit.
Whether changes in audience behaviour reflect the more strident humour of the comedians, or vice versa, is moot. But we hope there will be no further need for Billy Connolly fans to be short-changed.
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Comments
There are 26 comments to this article
Page 1 of 2
Niddrieman
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 01:05 PMThe whole debate is now very divisive if we are being told by the SNP the idependence is about being pro scottish or anti scottish! with 2 more years of this the dogs of war will be unleashed setting family member against family member, community against community...Whatever happens we need to be careful that a post referendum Scotland can come together again not spend the next 300 years arguing over the result.
wee-scamp
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 10:56 AMAsking the OBR to analyse financial information and the assumptions being made by politicians in the constitutional debate is an insult to our intelligence. The OBR is an institutiion created by the Tories to tell lies on their behalf. I wouldn't trust them further than I could spit.
Davie08
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 02:37 PMIs that it? Trotting out 'Bleak' Midwinter and writing an editorial to agree with him. Surely JP can find a more original and credible rentagob, although I have noticed of late that it is always the usual suspects. Is nobody else talking to Eddie and David?
Alicia Murray
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 04:39 PMLabour councillor and Bendy Wendy - says it all really.
Kobi
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 12:36 PMNationalists are a disgrace to the whole of the Scottish nation, although, in their narrow separatist view, they probably do not recognize Scotland as such - merely the quaint old name for Salmondland.
samcoldstream
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 12:17 PMYesterday, in an interview on Radio Scotland, Professor Midwinter claimed that ALL governments manipulate their finances, and gave as an example, Chancellor Gordon Brown's "triple counting of government income" during the New Labour years of plenty to justify the introduction of Tax Credits? Professor Midwinter also explained how Brown "left tens of billions of PFIPPP off the current account" to make his stewardship of the economy look much better? Politicians must take a course in fraud.
neoloon
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 10:30 AMThe "Scotsman" is a disgrace to the whole of the Scottish nation,although,in its narrow unionist view,it probably does not recognize Scotland as such - merely the quaint old name for North Britain.
JPJ2
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 12:25 AMI am pleased to see that you felt politically unable to suppress (as is the unionist McCrone style preferred approach) the response of John Swinney to the nonsense of the non-economist former Labour councillor Midwinter. I hope you read his letter and that the Leader writer (Jamieson?) together with Midwinter will now withdraw their disgraceful lies about Scottish Government statistics.
Kennedy Clan
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 10:00 PM#6 A feeble attempt, perhaps you should read the report. Maybe you should look for this bit "From a purely Scottish point of view this suggests that a production flow of, say, 50m. tons a year might be ideal. Even this would be five times Scotland’s present consumption and yield and annual revenue of between £700m." or this bit "The example of Norwegian policy on Government revenue from oil likewise shows up the failure of British." This paper was a damning indictment of UK mismanagement of Scotland's (share of the North Sea) Oil and Scottish Labour MPs simply brushed it under the carpet, leaving the way open for Thatcher to squander the oil at as fast a depletion rate as she could achieve. Despite her best efforts, because of continuing finds, and escalating prices, there is probably as much value in the oil today as has been extracted so far. You might want to leave it to the Bullingdon Club to squander the rest, I don't.
christelijk_recht
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 09:46 PMMidwinter was a close advisor and confidant of disgraced former Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander. In 2005 Midwinter predicted the SNP’s tax plans would create a £10 billion deficit. We're still waiting for that to happen.
neoloon
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 05:13 PMThank God for Alex Salmond and the SNP.They speak up for Scotland,unlike the unionists who always talk Scotland down.
Gordon Hay
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 02:13 PMSo, as well as the Westminster machine itself, of course, we are to have the Supreme Court, the Electoral Commission and now the OBR looking over our shoulders - how far will this trend go?
Kobi
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 01:59 PMComment removed by moderator
mogatrons
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 01:35 PMReferring to the remarks made by an SNP MSP (Joan McAlpine) in the chamber at Holyrood (and in her tweet), she clearly stated that those political parties that sought to deprive the populace of their democratically earned right to self determination were anti-Scottish. ===================================== Whe will this rag stop printing lies???? She DID NOT accuse critics of being anti Scottish,......she accused politicians seeking to deny Scots their democratic rights of being anti Scottish.================= She was right I have already posted on yet another tale of lies from this paper about Mike Russell=======again the public record shows that he defined the principle of free education as being Scottish based on the first Scottish Education Act, 1496. which proves beyond doubt that free education for all is part of Scottish Culture.============================his EXACT WORDS were..............."It will be interesting to see whether Labour has the courage to continue with its policy against people paying for education or whether it is moving on to that dreadful, anti-Scottish, anti-educational track. [Interruption.] No—the Scottish tradition is free education and I stand proudly for it. "==========================================================As for a plea for unbiased facts..........does the word HYPOCRISY mean ANYTHING to the SCOTSMAN???????????????? McCrone report anyone?????????=============================== The reality of the independance debate is that it is littered with unabashed lies and scaremongering from every corner of the union arguement....this rag being one of the worst offenders.============== There is however free and fair access to the truth across the internet for those who seek to understand the real potention for a Scotland free from the self serving hegemony of the Westminster government and her sycophantic supporters such as this paper
Kobi
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 01:01 PMComment removed by moderator
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