National response needed

ONLY time will tell whether Alex Salmond’s second administration as First Minister of Scotland will turn out to be the “elected dictatorship” predicted by Scottish Labour’s Hugh Henry. But as we report today on page 12, already there may be evidence enough to justify asking the SNP leader to go back and re-read his two excellent recent speeches – the first one delivered on the lawn of Prestonfield House the day after the election, and the second when he was formally confirmed in the post as First Minister by a vote of MSPs. Those speeches, which drew admiration from across the political spectrum, sought to address any concerns there might be that a majority government would not be a listening government.

Salmond said that the SNP might have “a majority of seats, but not a monopoly on wisdom”. And he pledged to work with the other parties that sent MSPs to Holyrood, working in the national interest. He pledged too that the SNP’s constitutional goals would not dominate politics at the expense of more immediate concerns about our young people, the elderly and the infirm. And yet the SNP has grabbed key parliamentary positions at Holyrood and makes intemperate comments in the debate over the Supreme Court. There are signs that there is co-operation with other parties, but the public also see signs of hubris. The First Minister would do well to consider his earlier words and match his actions, and those of his party, accordingly.