Is Liz Truss undermining devolution?
Should Liz Truss vs Nicola Sturgeon, independence and devolution be the real focal point of the Tory leadership contest?
This article was originally published in The Stornoway Gazette.
Much has already been written and discussed about the Conservative leadership contest’s frontrunner, and her comments regarding the First Minister of Scotland. At a hustings in Exeter, which is just about as far away as you can get from the Scottish Border on the south coast of England, Liz Truss - who grew up in Paisley - described herself as “a child of the Union”. She certainly displayed a childlike grasp of how to communicate on inter-governmental politics within the Union.
She suggested it is best to ignore Nicola Sturgeon. She called her an “attention seeker.” She ruled out a second independence referendum and continued: “What we need to do is show the people of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales what we’re delivering for them and making sure that all of our government policies apply right across the United Kingdom.”
First of all, aren’t all politicians attention seeking? I’m not sure it’s best to throw stones in glass houses, but who am I to question conventional wisdom?
Conservative members who were at the hustings cheered and applauded the serving foreign secretary. John Swinney, the deputy first minister of Scotland said: “People in Scotland, whatever their politics, will be absolutely horrified by the obnoxious remarks that Liz Truss has made tonight. I think Liz Truss has with one silly, intemperate intervention fundamentally undermined the argument that she tries to put forward that Scotland somehow can be fairly and well treated at the heart of the United Kingdom.”
And so, the children’s merry-go-round sprang into life again, with independence supporters screaming to make it go faster, as the SNP high-ups act as the toothless fairground operator attempting to twiddle the levers and knobs to thrill those on board. Meanwhile, the Conservative leadership frontrunner plays a game of whack-a-mole with the “red meat” policies to feed their members, uniting in anger those in Scotland who are anti-Tory or anti-Westminster or anti-Union.
The issue of independence, as we know, has dominated Scotland’s politics for years. It has done so to the detriment of other public services and policy areas, the evidence of which is objectively visible to those who care to pay attention: the worst A&E waiting times on record, education and care home failures during the pandemic, failing ferry provision for islanders and fuzzy commitments on what upgrading the A9 or A96 will mean, and when upgrades will be fully delivered, a widening attainment gap in schools; the drug deaths crisis which was brought into focus again last week as the number of deaths dropped by only nine. Annemarie Ward, the CEO of Faces & Voices of Recovery UK told us on Times Radio: “Scotland’s shame is also Scotland’s grief.” The latest figures are the second highest on record, only nine fewer than the 2020 total which was the largest number since records began in 1996. 455 deaths were recorded in 2007 when the SNP came to power. It’s now 1,330.
Putting the independence issue to the side - ha ha, but let’s try our best - Liz Truss’s comments about an attention-seeking Sturgeon should perhaps be a cause of concern for devolution-supporters too. Sturgeon is going about implementing a policy backed by her supporters and supporters of independence in general. Sure, this argument is only possible with the backing of the Scottish Greens, but it is increasingly difficult to argue against the principle of voters-getting-what-voters-voted-for - that’s how democracy works.
Liz Truss, however, spoke of “our government policies” applying “right across the UK.” Therefore, she must be challenged on the issue of her view of Scotland and, indeed, the other nations of the UK. Is it only Nicola Sturgeon’s enthusiasm for independence that is to be ignored, or does she disregard the role of Scotland’s First Minister - and therefore, Holyrood - entirely? Does she share similar views of the politically challenging situation in Northern Ireland which remains in gridlock without an assembly?
The Scottish Parliament is, proudly, one of the most powerful in the world. It means it can do things that diverge from the rest of the UK, like abolish up-front tuition fees in Scotland, something which former First Minister Jack McConnell observed on Twitter this week was “popular so the SNP continued with it.” The 1997 Labour Party Manifesto spoke of devolution “strengthening” the Union, and “the threat of separatism” being “removed.” If Liz Truss is determined to avoid a second independence referendum on the basis it was settled for “once in a generation”, wasn’t the issue of devolution resolved in 1997? Doesn’t it follow that, for Liz Truss to undermine the parliament for which the Scottish people voted, is to ignore the democratic will of the people? Sticky ground, there, Liz.
Where does this leave the nine senior Scottish Conservative frontbenchers who just hours before her comments announced their backing for Liz Truss to be the next prime minister? Your guess is as good as mine. A child of the Union, brought up in Paisley, is on course to be the next prime minister. Her childlike handling of the Union this week, and interactions with politicians belonging to powerful - and voted-for institutions therein - must now become a central issue in this campaign. Liz Truss once had a Scottish accent, she says. It’s time she used it to have mature conversations with Scotland’s politicians about Scotland’s future.