Why Douglas Ross's economic policy pulls its punches - Brian Monteith

It is good to see the Scottish Conservatives at last developing policies focused on the many powers available at Holyrood rather than simply tearing strips off their opponents. Sadly, while the mood music is enticing, it leaves me rooted to my seatnote-0.

With Scottish economic growth consistently trailing that of the rest of the UK over the years, our standard of living has been falling behind while our vital public services continually face greater demands with contracting budgets. Hence we rely on Westminster’s fiscal transfers from prosperous parts of the UK to keep our standards up. Douglas Ross is right, it’s unsustainable and we need to focus on delivering strong long-term growth as our economic priority.

But how? Time and again the Conservatives tease with attractive phrases, but fail to follow through with detail.

“Reduce the size of devolved government”? Of course!

Douglas Ross unveils his party's new economic policy - but Brian Monteith writes it only pulls its punches. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

“Ensure Scotland is competitive in the UK”? Well competition is a good thing, but that sounds rather half-hearted.The paper is so top heavy with managerial knob-twiddling that much of it could have been voiced by Labour first minister Jack McConnell 20 years ago. We must ask ourselves why that is – and the answer is simple enough, the Scottish Conservatives have been captured by the Holyrood swamp. One senses they know what they really would like to say, but dare not lest they no longer fit in.

Heavy on ambrosial generalities, but light on specifics, the paper simply lacks passion or urgency.

Two cheers for being brave enough to actually talk about an alternative to Scotland’s own political blob, but sadly if you pull your punches you can’t fight your way out of a paper bag.

​Brian Monteith is a former finance spokesman for the Conservatives at Holyrood and a columnist for The Scotsman