A HIGHLAND VIEW

A guest article from Bill Clark who lives in Fort William.

All political parties centralise their power but elected highland SNP MPs and MSPs could and should have helped to increase the highland power base by encouraging members to vote for Kate Forbes, a local MSP, to be SNP leader and Scotland’s First Minister.   After all, most people outside the central belt, for example, in the highlands, believe that the Scottish Government, of whichever colour, concentrate their efforts on the central belt, ignoring the fact that decade after decade of underdevelopment and investment have taken a toll on everyone who has made their home here in the highlands.  That being the case, why did our Highland SNP MPs Ian Blackford and Drew Hendry, and MSPs Maree Todd, and Emma Roddick along with SNP Highland Councillors vote for the SNP leadership nominee Humza Yousaf, a resident of Dundee who represents a constituency in Glasgow as Scotland’s SNP leader and Scotland’s First Minister. 

 They also encouraged SNP members in the highlands to vote for Humza and in doing so voted for the centralisation of more powers in the central belt rather than voting for Kate Forbes, a local Highland MSP, who is undoubtedly an outstanding politician as she proved as Scotland’s Finance Secretary.  For local SNP Highland Councillors and parliamentarian’s to be holding up placards in Inverness in support of the away team was obviously to curry favour with those who could look kindly on them.  It has obviously worked for some.  They gave their support to an SNP leadership cabal that were scathing of anyone who had the temerity to have a mind of their own.

  Kate Forbes as First Minister would never have excluded a tourism minister from her Cabinet appointments knowing full well what it means to the highland economy.  On the other hand, we had Highland MPs and MSPs along with Highland Councillors throwing their support behind a central belt candidate who boasted that he was the continuity candidate.  How well did these councillors know Humza Yousaf?  Their loyalty obviously lies with the SNP rather than with the cause of independence.  The new Cabinet of twenty-eight MSPs appointed by Humza will now join the leadership payroll vote with allegiance to the status quo.  Those MSPs are now part of a favoured group and have been appointed for their loyalty to the party.  The previous administration under Nicola Sturgeon who forcefully came out against Kate Forbes are still there as advisors on the back benches.  

Not one SNP MSP who publicly supported Kate Forbes was given a position at the top table of the extended Cabinet.   Indeed, only one was given a junior position out of the twenty-eight appointees to the Cabinet.    Ivan McKee, who publicly supported Kate, held the position of Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise.   In Ivan McKee’s case this new offer was one that effectively tied his hands behind his back.  Kate, on the other hand, was offered a demoted position from the position of Finance Secretary which she had held with distinction.     Both declined to accept the offers put to them for pertinent reasons.  

 One of Humza’s first decisions was to do away with a dedicated tourism role.  Our local Councillors and elected parliamentarian’s must have put a great deal of thought into the effect that such a decision was going to have on the Highlands before voting for a central belt First Minister who has now come up with such a negative decision for our highland economy.   I am sure that tourism will now be taken up by one of the twenty-eight appointees who are now holding various positions within the extended Cabinet as an afterthought and I am just as certain that they will try to convince everyone it had been their intention to do just that all along. 

   Many loyalists like Shona Robison, a long-standing best friend of Nicola Sturgeon, were given ministerial positions.  Unsurprisingly, Shona was appointed to both the positions of Deputy First Minister together with that of Finance Secretary with responsibility for the Scottish budget.  The latter decisions will rub salt in the wound of the 48% SNP membership who voted for Kate Forbes as she had previously held the finance and economy roll with distinction.  

 When compared to the eight years of SNP double talk Kate Forbes is a breath of political fresh air.  As for Ash Regan, she was far too committed to the cause of independence for the present SNP leadership.   Ash is also committed to the cause of women and children’s rights and showed the principles that many within the SNP have been lacking.  

 For the present SNP incumbents who have taken to promoting self-ID to the exclusion of the very thing that the SNP came into existence to achieve, Ash was never going to be offered a Cabinet position.  The SNP are no longer a party of independence, they have had eight years to take some positive action on that issue and failed miserably.   The SNP only mention independence when they are looking for canvassers and people to deliver leaflets in the lead up to an election.  For them it is all about returning candidates and retaining power.   I do not claim that each and every Cabinet member is not up to their job, I refer only to those who held senior positions in the previous Cabinet and who obviously have failed in their role.   

The present career incumbents are simply being moved about like kings and queens on a chess board as a reward for their loyalty to the leadership.  The only reward I want to see handed out is one that brings about independence.    Unfortunately, only Nicola Sturgeon loyalists can make this Cabinet and the obvious safety of the payroll vote to provide more of the same. 

MY COMMENTS

We have ladies and gentlemen a First Minister with a tiny mind. In his huge cabinet many ministers seem to have been appointed for tiny insular relatively unimportant issues so the incredible omission of a Tourist Minister is all the more staggering. It’s Economic Madness, tourism is a huge earner, it’s a great job creation industry in Scotland. Equally important it creates economic activity in rural areas where economic development is already a challenge. It is however much more crucial than just the economic factors. It can, or should I say, must, be a major driver to help create demand for Independence.

If you look at Ireland, or indeed Estonia traditional music and dance was central to internationalising their struggle’s for Independence. The best platform for developing those culture events came through tourism that created the interest and opportunities for the music and dance to flourish. Without tourism it would have been a very different, more difficult story.

Only in gender bender Scotland would be have a cabinet minister to build that agenda while ignoring an industry that keeps hundreds of thousands in work. It can only be a matter of days before we hear not having a Minister for Tourism is all part of the “new secret plan”. God save us from these simpletons!

I am, as always

YOURS FOR SCOTLAND.

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Now it is back to my holiday.