Employment proof is still in the works

What matters is what works. It is a Blairite mantra that is unlikely to pass the lips of Alex Salmond but in these days of supposedly non-ideological politics it has a certain resonance which the Nationalist government might find useful in the debate over what politicians should be doing to aid the ailing economy and help create employment. However, if he did not use the phrase, the tone of the First Minister’s remarks yesterday in a press conference at Bute House was an argument for the adoption by the UK government of policies that appear to be working in terms of employment in Scotland.

The facts are these. The number of people out of work in Scotland fell by 3,000 over the three months to July, according to official statistics, taking the total to 204,000. In the UK, unemployment jumped by 80,000 to 2.51 million – the biggest increase in nearly two years. In Scotland 57,700 jobs were created in the private sector over the past year while 25,200 public sector jobs have disappeared.

Mr Salmond put this success down to his policies of increased capital expenditure, improved access to finance for businesses, and measures to boost consumer confidence and economic security. His claim was disputed by the UK government, but the idea that Westminster policies produce one outcome in Scotland and a different one south of the Border is illogical. We will need many more months of statistics to discover if the SNP has discovered the magic job-creating policy formula. But if they have it, what matters is that it works.