Swinney loves devolution
more than he loves independence
Last week the Scotland 2050 conference took place in Edinburgh. Its tagline was: Re-imagining Scotland’s Potential. Swinney’s speech can be found here, although I don’t think you’ll be any wiser after reading it.
His BIG IDEA for solving Scotland’s myriad problems? No, it’s not independence.
It’s reforming the National Performance Framework (NPF), the stated aim of which is to “create a framework that better drives public sector reform, improves collaboration between the national and local governments and empowers communities.”
Stirring stuff, isn’t it? When I tried to find out more about the NPF, I learned that the website has been archived. You can try reading through the archived verbiage but I can’t guarantee you’ll be able to stay awake.
Swinney also says he wants Scotland to rejoin the increasingly authoritarian, neoliberal and warmongering EU.
That decision isn’t up to him but to the Scottish People, and they can’t make it until their sovereignty is restored and Scotland leaves the failing UK. Swinney does reference Scottish independence, claiming that we need to be in charge of our own destiny, blah, blah, blah, but he provides no strategy for achieving it.
He plans to complement the National Performance Framework with “full fiscal autonomy,” which he called for back in 2015.
According to the Scottish Administration’s paper, full fiscal autonomy would:
provide the maximum opportunity to apply the full range of tax policies in Scotland, including business taxes (like corporation tax), taxes on employment (like national insurance), environmental taxes (like the climate change levy) and taxes on consumption (like fuel duty).
Notably, VAT would be reserved to Westminster.
It would replace the block grant, but Scotland would still have to pay Westminster a population share for “union services” — chiefly, defence and foreign affairs. So we’d have to shell out money for nuclear weapons that Westminster insists be located in Scotland, as well as expensive UK embassies and the useless Foreign Office that cheerleads US-instigated foreign wars and backs the Zionist entity to the hilt.
Full fiscal autonomy is NOT independence but just another form of devolution:
Although full fiscal autonomy would not provide access to the full range of policy levers available with independence, it could – when accompanied by a complementary and coherent package of wider economic levers – provide the Scottish Government with the opportunity to set an overall policy framework to generate long-term improvements in productivity, working age population and employment. Such improvements could generate additional tax revenues in future years. [note – a key limitation of full fiscal autonomy, compared to independence, is that the Scottish Government would not have access to all elements of expenditure and would therefore be unable to adjust spending in areas such as defence to support growth enhancing initiatives.]
No central bank or a Scottish currency. No control over energy policy, which would still be dictated by London. No say over immigration or trade policy. We’d still be on a fiscal leash that Westminster could yank to pull Scotland back into line at any time.
It’s more tedious managerial incrementalism, something at which Swinney excels and shows that he and the other career politicians in Holyrood have settled comfortably into their devolutionist strait jacket. Moreover, it’s unlikely that Westminster would ever agree to it.
Devolution has failed Scotland yet it’s all the SNP and Swinney are offering.
The Scottish People will continue to live with falling living standards, worsening physical and mental health, crumbling public services and rising poverty all because they don’t have the courage and confidence to run their own affairs and tell Westminster to take a hike.
Swinney and his cohorts live in fear of a Scottish Independence movement which if successful would ultimately finish their political careers.
To re-badge Independence by reforming the NPF (as you have explained so well), is a further enforcement of Devolution which all YES voters have seen as a halfway house towards Independence. Sadly, even depressingly, the SNP leaders are basing their administration of Scotland around this lower level of power. UK Govt must be smirking with self congratulation.
Oh for a modern day James Connolly.
The mention of unwanted nuclear weapons based in Scotland is topical.
Just today I was made to sit up over my morning cereal. Your English Labour MP (The Viceroy) has ended his “lifelong” opposition to nuclear weapons - and is to remove his name from the Nobel prize-winning campaign for unilateral disarmament.
The UK is being driven in the wrong direction and Scotland is being dragged along.
Independence is vital now more than ever.
When I was living in Portugal until 2024 I met many Americans who would add 'but I didn't vote for Trump's when asked where they were from and many Brits who said ' but I didn't vote for Brexit' when asked where they were from. I now find myself saying 'but I'm not in the SNP' when stating I'm strongly in favour of independence. The SNP have done some wonderful things over their time in government but I not only can't see them as being drivers or campaigners for independence anymore under the current leadership with their lack of fight, bite and strategy but see them as now bringing the independence movement into disrepute as result because many associate the SNP with the movement in general and the current leadership has lost touch with much of the population and it's own grass roots. I know there is some degree of disquiet within SNP ranks and I hope for a figurative 'night of the long knives' to enable the SNP to quickly turn on, tune in and unite with the fight again so we can make something of the 2026 election other than a disappointing and embarrassing disaster