INTERVIEWING leading politicians from the SNP, the Scottish Greens and Alba about their economic approaches to the forthcoming General Election proved to be an interesting experience.
I’m grateful to The National for giving me the opportunity to interview Drew Hendry of the SNP, Neale Hanvey of Alba and Ross Greer of the Scottish Greens. I am also grateful to each of them. They mainly suffered my questions in good humour although as Drew, in particular, found out, if I did not get the answers I thought I was looking for, I was willing to pursue a point or make it clear that I had not achieved my objective.
Watch the full interviews below
Drew Hendry (SNP)
Ross Greer (Greens)
Neale Hanvey (Alba)
As far as I was concerned, the objective of this exercise was to explore the differences between the three pro-independence parties in Scotland so that those who want to vote for parties who believe that the country should be independent can clearly see three things.
The first of these is that being pro-independence does not mean that there has to be a uniformity of views on display. This became very clear during the interviews. To provide one very obvious example, the positions of the Greens and Alba are almost diametrically opposed with regard to oil. The Greens’ position is principle-based, grounded in evidence, and unambiguously argues that oil and gas production must move towards a close. Alba, in contrast, is keen to accommodate the interests of Aberdeen, where Alex Salmond has traditionally found his support. Their whole approach is based on a compromise which feels to be a fudge that lacks a great deal of intellectual consistency. The idea that there is a singular approach to the economy in the independence movement is blown apart by this one issue.
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Second, I wanted to explore attitudes towards the social problems that blight Scotland. It is a fact that cannot be disputed that too many families in the country are struggling to make ends meet, and that far too many children are suffering as a result. I do not think that wanting a child to have food on its table makes anyone a socialist, but you would think that is the case based upon the attitude of the English-based Conservative and Labour parties. Neither show any interest in addressing this issue, to their massive discredit.
In fairness, my interviews make clear that all the Scottish parties disagree with this approach by what I call the English parties. The difference between them is in the measures that they are willing to put in place to address these issues.
Ross Greer for the Greens was emphatic that redistributive taxes were necessary to ensure that no child need go hungry in Scotland. Both wealth taxes, and higher taxes on income were mentioned by Greer, but in the latter case, Neale Hanvey’s ambition was quite limited in scope, being restricted only to increases in capital gains tax. Ross Greer demonstrated a much stronger comprehension of the role of tax as a social issue. I did, in fact, suggest to him, after the interview, that he might be amongst the top 1% of politicians when it comes to tax given his comprehension of this issue.
As will be apparent from the interview with Drew Hendry, he was reluctant to be drawn by me on what the SNP might do with regard to taxation. Admittedly, the interview took place before any of these parties had published their manifesto, but I might I could not get Drew to commit to anything that he thought that the SNP might do with the additional tax powers on income and wealth which he thought Scotland should have, meaning that in the time available I gave up asking what his intention might be, because it was obvious he would not divulge them.
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As we now know, the SNP manifesto has little more to say on this. It simply suggests that the UK should replicate the tax rates used by the SNP and raise more than £16 billion in revenue as a result. Apart from mentions of tackling tax abuse, and reducing tax on oil, the SNP have almost nothing else to say on tax in this election, as the interview with Drew Hendry also made clear.
The third of my objectives was to look at the independence issue itself, by seeking to establish if there was a clear understanding of the need for Scotland to have immediate control of its own currency if that goal was achieved. The Greens and Alba understand that. Drew Hendry agreed that without its own currency an independent Scotland could not control its economy, but frustratingly he still tried to hedge his bets around the immediate commitment. To me that suggests that the SNP have still not really understood, or embraced, just what independence really means as yet. The other parties did so, more obviously.
Where does this leave readers? Alba and the Greens are not going to win seats in this election. The SNP undoubtedly will. They are going to be a vital part of the parliamentary opposition to a massive Labour majority in the next Westminster parliament. Voting for them is essential, but I cannot help but say that if I could do so I would whilst simultaneously wishing they were much more convincing when it comes to economics, and other issues.
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Callum Baird, Editor of The National
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