If Swinney knew how to fix the challenges our country faces, he’d have done it by now

First Minister John Swinney during his speech on national renewal and prevention, at the Imaging Centre of Excellence (ICE) at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow. Photo: Robert Perry/PA Wire

Like any good bank manager, John Swinney has a plan to protect his firm’s reputation. Soothing speeches to the customers promising them their money is safe.

Reassurances that things will get better if they stick with the person they know. And, of course, the warning that other banks cannot be trusted.

But while Swinney may have practiced his sales patter, the reality is that he is working for the SNP, not Scotland. And any shrewd customer should read the small print before cashing their cheque.

On Monday, Swinney delivered yet another speech promising national renewal. You would not be able to tell from his talk of an “enterprising, compassionate, forward-looking nation” that just days earlier iconic Scottish bus firm Alexander Dennis launched a consultation on closing its Falkirk and Larbert sites citing a lack of pipeline work.

Or that in recent years Alexander Dennis received more orders from Greater Manchester than the Scottish government, with Falkirk workers building 160 buses for Manchester’s Bee Network, compared to just 44 out of a potential 252 buses for Scotland. And no mention that John Swinney knew about this a year ago and has done nothing to stop this.

In the same speech, Swinney pledged to build an NHS for the future.

The SNP promised an NHS app back in 2021, only for Swinney to scale back the plans in January 2025 to a pilot in Lanarkshire. NHS England have had an app since 2018, much of the content developed by a Glasgow headquartered company, but they can’t gt the SNP to listen to them.

Swinney harked back to the recommendations of the Christie Commission, a report published in 2011. He’s only had 14 years to digest those findings so maybe it’s no surprise that Scotland’s public services are on their knees. Swinney’s not alone in being haunted by the past though.

In 2010, just one in 18 Scots were on an NHS waiting list. Now it is nearly one in six.

Investors who squander their clients’ money prefer to talk about the potential of future returns.

Cue Swinney turning up at the Scotland 2050 conference to talk up that speculative asset, independence. So seeing as leopards don’t change their spots – or bank managers their ties – what will Scotland look like in 2050 if the SNP are still in charge?

A two-tier health system where those who can afford it are paying to go private and those who can’t watch their lives sap away while they wait in pain? A Scotland which has forgotten how to manufacture, build and create, while Scottish taxpayers pay more and get less?

John Swinney may be the SNP’s best bet when it comes to keeping the party together, but that doesn’t mean he’s good enough to lead Scotland. In the past week he and his Ministers have been gaslighting Scotland, bringing forward timid ideas, recycled initiatives and announcing things that will never be delivered.

If Swinney knew how to fix the challenges our country faces, he’d have done it by now.

Our country deserves better – it’s time for a new direction and Scottish Labour is ready to deliver it.