Would government benefit from having business leaders in Cabinet, asks TERRY MURDEN
Whisper it quietly but the Scottish government has just announced a rare success. It has surpassed its broadband target, known as R100, which sounds like a souped-up saloon car, but stands for the more prosaic ‘Reaching 100%’ programme. You won’t see screaming headlines in the Daily Mail, probably not even a mention of it in some of the business pages, but it was enough to bring a smile to the face of business minister Richard Lochhead.
Though he owes a debt of gratitude to Openreach which actually did the donkey work, he is one of the few in government who seems to keep a dignified head, and avoids getting caught in the day-to-day political crossfire.
He’s led a delegation of games company owners to Japan (not much coverage of that either), chaired the first meeting of a new technology group and regularly pops up at photo opportunities for factory openings. If the rest of the government was modelled on Richard Lochhead the Daily Mail would be struggling for stories, but all would be well with the Holyrood administration.
Instead, the SNP government shares one key attribute with its Westminster counterpart: the ability to devise bad and muddled policy, from Holyrood’s cack-handed ferry contracts to Sir Keir Starmer’s humiliating u-turns. It leaves the rest of us wondering how they manage to make so many poor decisions and whether bringing in more individuals from business and science would help improve the quality of government.
To be fair, the Scottish government has appointed advisers such as Jim McColl, the engineering company boss, Benny Higgins, the banker, and Mark Logan as the first chief entrepreneurial officer, a role now undertaken voluntarily by Ana Stewart. Ministers did adopt Logan’s tech programme, HIggins’ plans for the Scottish National Investment Bank, and is listening to Stewart’s advice on improving opportunities for women.
But they sit at the side of government, not as part of it. One former senior executive who was hired for a key role at Scottish Enterprise and another who was consulted on the setting up of the Scottish National Investment Bank told me that ministers asked questions, received answers, then just did what thay always intended to do.
A tendency to treat business advice as a box-ticking exercise has been the downfall of many policies and ministers. It has led to high taxes and business rates, over-regulation and wrongly-targeted support. It has enabled the quangos and other public institutions to take a leading role in decision-making rather than being the servants of decision makers. When it goes wrong, ministers take the blame and start piling up their excuses.
At its worst, poor judgement descends into incompetence which became one of the highlights of the week, if not the year so far, when the ex-principal of Dundee University, Iain Gillespie told MSPs: “I’m certainly not corrupt, so I’ll have to choose incompetent.” Wow. The day’s headlines came served on a silver platter, gift-wrapped and sent by special delivery.
Who could better that? Step forward Sir Keir Starmer who has learned quickly that even having a whopping majority in the House of Commons is no safeguard against navigating political minefields. In the case of his plans to cut disability benefits, the mines were laid by members of his own party.
If that was not painful enough, the rapid re-writing of the legislation was the third u-turn in recent weeks. The Treasury was left to try and re-balance the books, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said nothing so as not to further embarrass her boss, and Sir Keir’s authority is now clearly in question. Being willing to change position may be a good thing, but doing it three times in quick succession looks like poor planning and weak leadership.
Mark Logan and Ana Stewart, right, with Kate Forbes (pic: Terry Murden)
There is talk in Labour ranks of a campaign to clear out the Prime Minister’s advisers who have set him up for too many falls. The PM, despite often looking like the proverbial rabbit caught in the headlights, is said to be quite ruthless and would not baulk at ridding Downing Street of bad actors, though he seems perfectly capable of outdoing the ineptitude of Jim Hacker from the 1970s sitcom Yes, Minister.
Despite his successes on the world stage, together with his series of trade deals and economic strategies, Sir Keir’s reputation in the opinion polls is at rock bottom. All the good work is being undermined by the cock-ups and discrimination against those a Labour government should support. Even party loyalists are asking why the government has to deny the needy of the basics just to get by, while it can find billions to throw at war machines in the Middle East and Ukraine.
In Holyrood, the SNP has also walked into too many problems of its own making from overdue hospital appointments to failed housing targets that have left ministers exposed to claims of bad management and muddled policy making.
Bus building contracts placed overseas while a local factory goes begging for orders, and calling for nationalisation of the Grangemouth oil refinery, while opposing the production of new oil and gas fields in the North Sea that would supply it.
In its game of one-upmanship with Westminster it simultaneously claims that pensioners on £34,000 are poor enough to require more generous winter fuel payments than their counterparts in England while also being rich enough to pay more income tax than those in the south.
The SNP opposed investment by Rolls-Royce in a welding centre because of some vague link to munitions, which it refuses to support on ideological grounds. Yet just this week the Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes was visiting BAE Systems in Govan claiming to be one of its biggest fans and urging more investment in apprentices. So an independent SNP government would build warships, but would not allow them to use munitions? Go figure.
All the mainstream parties have failed to concede the need to find new ways to finance public services, particularly the NHS, and so maintain the deceit that taxation alone will do the trick. A survey recently showed one in three Scots had sought private medical treatment, yet the SNP, Labour and the LIbDems become more detached from public opinion by demonising Nigel Farage’s Reform UK for suggesting private money must have a role in providing health services.
Would any of this have happened if these policies had been directed by business leaders who know how to balance risk, the probability of failure and knowing when to quit?
Farage is now talking about putting more business figures into Cabinet should his party form the next UK government. It is not a new idea. Margaret Thatcher handed David Young a peerage to lead her employment and trade agenda from the Lords and as a Cabinet member. Gordon Brown did the same with CBI leader Digby Jones. David Cameron made Michelle Mone a Baroness to lead a campaign to improve the startup rate in under privileged areas, proving there is always an exception to every rule.
Entry into the Lords gave them a direct influence in government. Those who call for the abolition of the second chamber should bear in mind the recent comments by Indian beer tycoon Lord Bilimoria who said its members are free from the pressure to win votes and can instead focus on weighing ideas. No such institution exists in Scotland, though a revising chamber populated with leaders from business, academia, medicine, science and the creative industries could help improve the quality of legislation.
Aside from policies we can believe in, we ask our party leaders to be trusted and competent. A failure on both measures led to the fall in less than three years of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Humza Yousaf.
Politicians in Scotland will return from their holidays in September, ready for a gruelling nine month election race. Sadly, some of those who have performed with some grace and capability have declared themselves non-runners. Let’s just hope the next intake includes some potential winners who are worth backing.
Terry Murden held senior positions at The Sunday Times, The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and The Northern Echo and is now editor of Daily Business
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