A mediocre and amateur Budget that proved the SNP are more comfortable in spin wars

Every year, politicos like myself and not the vast majority of people I must add, wait graciously in anticipation of the Scottish Budget.

Eagerly waiting to know what will be contained in the Budget, what will be announced and ultimately what it all means.

The vast majority of hard-working people are too busy working and providing for their families to be bothered about the Scottish Budget, even though there are significant implications for them.

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The reality is the Budget is the settled will of the Scottish Government’s financial position for the year ahead of which will be voted on next year. And in the run-up to the Budget statement, the focus was very much on how the opposition parties will respond, who will back it and ultimately vote it through.

First Minister John Swinney looks on as Finance Secretary Shona Robison presents the Scottish Government's Budget. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty ImagesFirst Minister John Swinney looks on as Finance Secretary Shona Robison presents the Scottish Government's Budget. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
First Minister John Swinney looks on as Finance Secretary Shona Robison presents the Scottish Government's Budget. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

The Scottish Liberal Democrats were the first to make the case as to what was their red line, namely any money allocated for an independence campaign whilst also saying how they could support the Budget. The Scottish Green Party made it clear they wanted money allocated for climate change/a green economy.

To anyone reading this I want to make it clear that I’m not writing this piece from the viewpoint of party politics, but as someone who wants to see the best outcome for the people of Scotland.

The reality is that last week’s Budget was an opportunity for the Scottish Government to set a new ambitious direction for the country. Instead what we got was a mediocre and amateur Budget or, as some would say, more of the same.

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Investing in the foundations of the Scottish economy should have been the priority, not making cuts to Skills Development Scotland or Scottish Enterprise who will play an integral role in delivering the Scottish Government’s Green Industrial Strategy.

There is much more the Government could have done. For a party that talks about being ambitious for Scotland and for a Government that has an additional £1.5 billion to play with, more funding could have gone into housing, the NHS, education, entrepreneurism and other key services to show the people of Scotland how strong their ambition is.

For a party that has been in power close to 20 years, the SNP has failed to use its powers to transform Scotland’s economy from a low wage and low-growth economy to boosting wages and productivity across key sectors, which will have serious implications for peoples living standards and will place further pressure on our public services.

What we witnessed last week was a budget that provides no leadership or vision for the people of Scotland, a last-minute attempt by the Scottish Government to portray themselves as being economically competent who are more comfortable in spin wars than actually addressing the pressing issues of the day.

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Let’s take poverty for example. When John Swinney took office as First Minister, he outlined that his key goal was to eradicate poverty, which was great to hear. But since then nothing has been done to achieve that.

Whilst outlining the Budget to the Scottish Parliament, Finance Secretary Shona Robison spoke about eradicating child poverty being the Government’s top priority. However, there is not a fully costed or fully funded policy in place in the Budget to achieve that outcome in the forthcoming financial year.

Let that sink in for a minute. The Scottish Government has identified 15,000 children living in poverty, but there is no policy in place to do something about it.

Surely this is the antithesis of why most people get into politics. I have to admit the very thought that the Scottish Government is trying to create a false narrative of a progressive policy that tackles child poverty that doesn’t exist is something I feel very frustrated by, as it’s clearly politically motivated and not driven by outputs in the real world. But tell that to the 15,000 children in poverty on Christmas Day who need a government that has their back.

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To me this is akin with declaring a national housing crisis and ultimately doing nothing about it. When you separate the spin from the policy focus, it becomes clear just what exactly the priorities of this Scottish Government are, which is nothing more than doing what it takes to remain in power.

I understand that’s the game of politics, but let’s be honest – every single one of us who got involved in politics did so to make things better for the people of this great country and not maintain the status quo when it’s not working.

Where I agree with Mr Swinney is the need to tackle child poverty. But what about pensioner poverty, what about veteran poverty, what about homelessness? Poverty doesn’t discriminate and we can see that on all major high streets across Scotland.

But instead of looking at poverty issues in isolation, how about we just tackle poverty in general and by doing so work together to have a plan and policy that does just that as opposed to a warm set of words at this cold time of year.

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To coin a phrase that is all too often used in politics since 1993, “it’s the economy stupid”. A progressive policy aimed at tackling poverty in Scotland would require an ambitious Budget and allocation of money and resources to health, housing, local government and education. But tinkering around the edges might result in good media headlines in the interim, but in the long term won’t achieve the desired outcome.

With good political leadership and strong political will, eradicating poverty in Scotland can be achieved, but to do that you need to be serious in policy terms, not just political soundbites.

- Barrie Cunning, managing director of Pentland Communications and former Scottish Labour candidate for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire.

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