THE cards are stacked heavily in favour of the SNP as Holyrood’s party of government.
‘Power without responsibility’ pretty much sums it up.
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Because there’s an inbuilt advantage for the Scottish Government when compared to the UK Government.
If things go wrong at Westminster, the UK Government only has itself to blame.
Rightly, voters will invariably blame the ministers of the day.
But if things go wrong for the Scottish Government, they have an instant get-out.
They can just say it’s the UK Government’s fault.
Exploiting this structural advantage has been extremely lucrative for the SNP in terms of shirking responsibility for shortcomings in government, and arguing for independence.
This blame game, enabled by the clunky and imperfect way the UK and devolution is assembled, has peaked again in recent weeks as SNP ministers have tried to swerve any responsibility for spending cuts.
Of course, the lines can be blurred. Sometimes, the Scottish Government has a point.
The trouble is, they are prolific when it comes to shirking responsibility. They have become the Boy Who Cried Wolf.
Those who feel done in by the constant moaning are now more likely to switch off when a genuine, justified complaint comes along.
And gradually, over time, the penny has dropped for many people who were previously happy to be carried along on this wave of grievance.
This brings us to the past few weeks, when the SNP have truly milked the grievance cow dry with their stubborn refusal to take any responsibility for eye-watering Scottish Government overspending.
They have pinned the blame on Westminster, the Tories, and Labour “austerity”. Basically, anyone but themselves.
But enough people aren’t buying it. It’s not just obviously untrue, but the independent experts are laying a big chunk of the blame — at the very least — at the Scottish Government’s door.
After 16 years in power, Scots are well accustomed to SNP boasts about the Scottish Government universal freebies and how that makes Scotland a great place to live.
They also know this is enabled as Scotland gets more public spending per head than the UK average — an incontrovertible fact.
And they know that grown-ups have to live within their means, while they see the people in charge of the country doing the opposite.
If more evidence for this is needed, do Google the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s August 2024 Fiscal Update.
It would certainly make good bedtime reading if you’re struggling to sleep. But it’s also a very important document if you want to understand what is really going on.
In an understated and non-political manner, the SFC report exposes SNP ministers over their attempts to dodge any responsibility for the near £1billion hole in Holyrood’s finances, which they are plugging through cuts and by spending the remainder of a one-off green fund.
As the SFC says about the budget hole: “Much of the pressure comes from the Scottish Government’s own decisions.”
Basically, the Scottish Government budgeted for three per cent public sector pay rises. It’s ended up giving — and boasting about — rises of 4.27 per cent to council workers and teachers, and 5.5 per cent to NHS staff. Both are well above inflation.
In Finance Secretary Shona Robison’s own words last week, pay deals mean “additional costs” of up to £800million this financial year.
On top of this, the Scottish Government is now spending around £1billion on extra welfare benefits specific to here.
Then, there are those freebies like prescriptions for all, tuition fees, bus travel for under-22s.
You may think some or all of these things are justified. But there’s no magic money tree.
And the suggestion from SNP ministers that Westminster “austerity” is to blame for them not being able to fund their every whim is absurd.
The SFC report is an eye-opener on the big picture.
It explains how Scotland’s public sector amounts to 22.6 per cent of the Scottish workforce, compared to the 17.6 per cent UK rate.
An average public sector wage in Scotland is £39,100 a year, compared to £36,700 in the rest of the UK.
So, we have more public sector workers per head — and they’re being paid more.
That’s a political choice. But it has to be paid for. In a world where governments do not have unlimited cash, that means spending less on other things.
As for that Westminster austerity accusation – “austerity” means cutting public spending.
Has Scottish Government spending gone down? Nope.
The SFC says that since December 2023 — when the current financial year’s budget was set — there have been “no significant confirmed changes in the Scottish Government’s funding”.
It adds: “But the pressure on spending has increased with public sector pay offers in Scotland now coming in higher than the pay policy published in May 2024.”
So, if anyone is causing “austerity” to parts of the Scottish public sector, it’s the Scottish Government — in order to pay for their priorities.
In reality, they are moving money around within their own budget.
That’s not austerity. It’s the consequences of their own political choices.
They now have to own these choices, because the blame tactics are no longer washing.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
The cards may well be stacked in their favour and make the UK Government an easy scapegoat.
But this time, it looks like SNP ministers have overplayed their hand.
