Vision, compassion and a will to improve Scotland

Published on Friday 6 September 2002 01:00

HENRY McLeish’s decision to stand down from elected politics will be greeted with glee by his political opponents.

The Tories and the Nationalists will claim that this is the second-last chapter in a tale of Labour sleaze and look forward with ghoulish relish to the final instalment - the conclusion of a puzzlingly long police inquiry.

Labour MSPs and officials will breathe a collective sigh of relief that someone to whom they were once loyal will not be an embarrassing hindrance to the party as it fights the Scottish parliamentary elections.

Newspapers that once posed as Mr McLeish’s friends will probably say "good riddance" and repeat the cruel and unfair comparison of the former first minister and his wife, Julie, with Neil and Christine Hamilton.

It is my belief that history will treat Henry McLeish more kindly than his contemporary critics. Amid the controversy over "Officegate", which led to Mr McLeish’s resignation after just a year in office, his record has been overlooked.

Henry McLeish was Scotland’s first post-devolution first minister. Donald Dewar created the Scottish Parliament and seemed almost happy with that. Mr McLeish wanted to use the powers that Mr Dewar had bequeathed to change Scotland, doing things differently from Westminster if he thought it in the nation’s interest.

In an era when political "vision" is often derided, Mr McLeish articulated his ambition to build a "competitive, confident, compassionate" Scotland. His successor, Jack McConnell, is content with "doing less better".

As first minister, Mr McLeish - who freely admitted to early errors but grew into a job for which there is no training - sought to put his vision into practice.

He was - and is - a caring and compassionate man who was often moved by encounters with ordinary people he met across Scotland, people who did not regard this Fife miner’s son with the same social and intellectual snobbery he encountered on the Mound.

Mr McLeish also wanted Scotland to be more competitive. He fervently believed that the Executive could help Scotland compete in the global market economy and backed strongly plans to redirect resources towards indigenous business rather than seeking greater inward investment. He was one of the most pro-business Labour ministers Scotland has seen.

Above all, Mr McLeish focused on the national lack of confidence and was a great admirer of the "can do" attitude found in America.

He backed a bid to bring the Ryder Cup golf to Scotland and he threw enthusiastically his weight behind the efforts to bring the Euro 2008 football championships here. The sceptics said these were grandiose schemes but, to Mr McLeish, they would be good business for Scotland, bringing in hundreds of millions of pounds, and boost the nation’s self- confidence.

Henry McLeish was not a nationalist but he was a proud Scot who realised that devolution within the United Kingdom gave this country a higher profile. He was proud that Scotland’s new status was recognised across the world; from the White House, where he had talks with President Bush, to Europe, where devolution is the norm. He believed that Scotland should take its place at the table with devolved regions and nations across the continent.

Henry McLeish made mistakes during his term as first minister, particularly in his handling of Officegate. A full disclosure of the details and absolute acceptance of responsibility would probably have averted his resignation. He was big enough to admit those mistakes in his dignified resignation statement to the Scottish Parliament.

His successor might not admit it, but Mr McConnell has much for which to thank Mr McLeish, not least in being able to use the word "government" when describing the Scottish Executive - something for which the former first minister was initially pilloried but which gradually won acceptance.

It would be harsh, therefore, if Henry McLeish was remembered only for Officegate. If we judge Mr McLeish by the criteria he set out, we should ask: was Scotland that bit more competitive when he left office? Was it more compassionate? And was it developing the self-confidence it needed in the 21st century? In my view, the answer to all three questions is yes.

Peter MacMahon is a columnist with The Scotsman. For a year, he was press secretary to the former first minister, Henry McLeish.