Why Keir Starmer needs to learn from Alex Salmond's first government

In 2007, in the immediate aftermath of the SNP winning power in Holyrood for the first time, the new First Minister, Alex Salmond, wanted to show that the party was cracking on with the job. Along with eye-catching policies like scrapping bridge tolls, the new administration changed its name from Scottish Executive to Scottish Government.

It was a straightforward bit of work changing signs and titles at minimal cost and although some hold-outs insisted on referring to the Scottish Executive for a time, the change stuck.

It wasn’t a controversial move, we refer to local government and the Westminster government so obviously a Scottish Government made sense. This simple move also told us something about how the SNP-led government saw itself and what it intended to do with its new-found power.

Keir Starmer needs to try to remember why he wanted to become Prime Minister (Picture: Henry Nicholls/WPA pool) | Getty Images

Statement of intent

Scottish voters and officials were to be under no illusions that this administration was to be different than those that had gone before in the post-devolution era – more assertive, self-confident and even more Independent.

An SNP government had been elected and that name change was a statement of intent straight after the election. It was a message, for those who had voted SNP for the first time and for the wider world, about how the new administration intended to carry out its work. That move helped lay the groundwork for the majority win in 2011.

Since its seismic election win in July this year, it is difficult to think of a similar signature move by the new Labour administration. There was an initial opportunity. Voters, across the UK, including Scotland, had voted for change at Westminster after 14 years of Conservative governments and particularly after the carnage of the Johnson and Truss premierships.

Lack of vision

Yet instead of providing change, governance has often appeared to be more of the same, albeit from a slightly more technocratic administration. As we approach the Christmas break, and after just a few months of government, Labour appears lost and unsure of what it is in power for.

Don’t get me wrong, government is hard, and I don’t doubt that the intentions of those in power are good. However, on a range of issues, Labour’s lack of vision and anything resembling an ideology is leading to a vacuum.

Labour’s reaction to the Scottish Budget was telling. The Holyrood Budget was well received with positive feedback for Shona Robison, in stark contrast to the reaction to Rachel Reeves’ UK Budget. Astonishingly, Labour was reportedly ‘snookered’ on how to react to the Scottish Government’s announcement on the winter fuel payment and tackling the two-child cap. Two simple actions that help the most vulnerable in our society at either end of the generational perspective.

This is despite the fact that Scottish Labour committed themselves to campaigning against the cut to the winter fuel payment for Holyrood, despite having trooped through the lobbies at Westminster to vote for it. The confusion is therefore understandable given the contradictory approaches by the Scottish party.

Labour now owns hard Tory Brexit

Besides social justice, Labour looks lost and without a political polestar to guide them on a range of issues. On Brexit, Keir Starmer, has said that he will not take the UK back into the EU Single Market or Customs Unions. This is despite knowing, from the Treasury’s own analysis, the damage his stance will do, and that this has been the compromise that Labour MPs and MSPs backed in the past.

Labour didn’t create a hard Tory Brexit, but in government they now own it. Even simple wins, like a youth mobility scheme, that would give UK youngsters just some of the opportunities enjoyed by other Europeans, have been rejected.

To be fair, unlike the Tories, they show no great enthusiasm in their work. However, this simply underlines the problem and the fact that the government is taking away opportunities from young people and damaging the economy – in the name of a policy that no one voted for and the government of the day, which could do something about it, doesn’t really believe in.

Unenthusiastic about their own policies

On other issues, like Israel’s destruction of Gaza, the National Insurance increases for business and the care sector, and another half-hearted attempt at House of Lords reform, Labour’s lack of ambition and enthusiasm for its own policies is palpable. No wonder new Labour MPs spend their time in the Chamber talking about the Scottish Government, rather than the administration they are supposed to scrutinise, and struggle to muster much enthusiasm for the first Labour government in 14 years.

It matters when a new administration isn’t exactly fizzing with ideas and energy. The UK Government has legislative and financial powers that the Scottish Government can only dream of. At a time of international uncertainty and instability, it has clout and reach, way beyond that of the Scottish administration. And yet, having fought so hard to get into power, just like the Brexiteers who fought so hard to leave the EU, Labour seem unsure what to do with their new found power.

Fixated on the SNP

The Scottish Government isn’t perfect and has made mistakes, while all parties need to find a way of reconnecting with frustrated voters. However, it’s difficult to dig yourself out of a hole when you are not sure why you are there or where you are going once you have dug yourself back out. At times, Labour can be fixated on the SNP, rather than themselves as illustrated by the countless articles written by their supporters about Scotland’s government rather than their own.

John Swinney and Shona Robison know why they are in politics and what they are there for. When it comes to the inevitable hard days of governing, having a clear objective ensures you can see beyond the immediate horizon and helps you deliver as a ‘government’, rather than administering as an ‘executive’.

Stephen Gethins is MP for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry