Michael Kelly: Healthy challenge for Alex the Thatcher slayer

Our First Minister ought to regain the fighting fitness he had when he ‘brought down’ a previous Tory government

I AM determined to begin the year on a positive note by finding something good to say about our First Minister. Gratuitously, he himself gave me the opportunity to praise him. He has just revealed the crucial part he played single-handedly in triggering the political demise of Margaret Thatcher, whose policies inflicted even more harm on Scotland than those proposed by the SNP.

In reminiscing about his role in slaying the dragon, he portrays himself more as the patron saint of England rather than our own St Andrew. Tackling monsters and saving virgins is much more romantic and manly than fishing in the Sea of Galilee. And, like our First Minister, most of what St George did was mythical. He remembers taking Mrs Thatcher on, while the rest of us recall that it was the SNP that started the Thatcher era. By bringing down the Callaghan government in 1979, the SNP forced a general election at the time most propitious to the Tories, and thereafter they ruled the UK for the next 18 years.

This was not a mistake. The SNP calculated that by allowing the Tories to inflict maximum damage on Scotland they could portray themselves as saviours. No sacrifice by Scots was too great to serve the goal of independence. They’re still at it, loving the current cuts the next generation of Tories are imposing.

I was not in the House of Commons on that Budget Day when Alex Salmond made his rude protest. But what I heard on the news were not plaudits for a brave stand but rather condemnation for ignorant heckling. Later the Chancellor he interrupted, Nigel Lawson, remarked on this unprecedented barracking, wondering what kind of democratic country this man would lead if he got his political way. We are now in a better position to answer that. On gaining his absolute majority the First Minister immediately appointed one of his own party to the important and supposedly neutral post of presiding officer. Through his Offensive Behaviour at Football Bill he has restricted freedom of speech. And he is trying his best to fix both the timing and wording of the referendum question – the former on the grounds that he promised it would be held late in this parliament: a promise for which there is as little evidence as for a dragon’s fiery breath.

However, the Thatcher stopper deserves credit for being so honest in the assessment of his role. It is further to his credit that he kept quiet about his heroics for so many years, allowing us to believe that it was Tony Blair and New Labour that finally lanced the Tory boil.

What is there left for the First Minister to conquer? After he fulfilled his role in the downfall of Adolf Hitler, Spike Milligan went on to tell jokes. Alex Salmond could readily develop the style that has terrorised opposition leaders at First Minister’s Questions into an act that could carry him through Mock the Week.

However, I did promise to be positive. And while our First Minister’s vanity is a failing for which he deserves merciless criticism, there is an aspect of his government’s policies that I can, without a hint of irony, praise. That is his determination, announced in one of the many New Year messages disgorged by the government press office, to continue to make improving the nation’s health a priority.

And continuity is the watchword because, despite our appalling health statistics, significant improvements have been made. The Chief Medical Officer, in his annual report, notes that death rates from cancer, coronary heart disease and stroke continue to decline. He attributes these successes to a combination of the anti-smoking legislation and the support given to those wanting to give up cigarettes. These successes are not entirely down to the present government but let us give credit to both the previous minority administration and to its successor for maintaining policies which can only succeed over the long period.

Public policy can have a huge impact in creating the environment in which people make those decisions. Several factors – a combination of better medicine and more accurately targeted resources – contributed to the improvements. In 2012 the government must pursue proposals advocated by the British Heart Foundation to legislate for cigarettes to be sold in plain packs without branding. It must also press ahead with its plans for minimum alcohol pricing. Now that David Cameron has indicated his willingness to consider it, many of the technical objections will disappear. But much more can be done. Given the inequitable distribution of levels of health across society, it is unbelievable that drinks companies are allowed to sponsor the working-class sport of football. Old Firm fans must be baffled at the choice of beer the football authorities recommend.

However, health is very much a personal responsibility, and decisions to adopt a healthy lifestyle must ultimately be made at the level of the individual. The benefits of helping people to help themselves are readily demonstrated. People who understand the factors involved and how to influence them are given more control over their lives, which allows them to become healthier.

In this context, nothing is more powerful than example. Alex Salmond is the dominant figure not just of Scottish politics, but of Scottish celebrities. He has demonstrated by his government’s commitment to better health that he accepts the priority it must be given. What has been lacking so far has been positive signs that he has taken his own messages on board.

This New Year I call upon him to begin a regime of good diet and exercise to return himself to the sylph-like figure that was the scourge of Thatcher all those years ago. To a man prepared to be “named” – the term used when MPs are excluded – by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons this should require no courage at all. And by next New Year he will be able to demonstrate that his achievements are real, not imaginary.