Lesson 1. Actually, We're Not As Crap As The Cynics Said We Were
IS IT really ten years since the opening of the Scottish Parliament? Lordy, it feels like 20. So much has happened since that sunny day on the Mound it feels like another age. The Parliament is now so embedded in the Scottish mindset it's hard to im
agine a time when it wasn't there. I can imagine the incredulity of children taking Modern Studies when they are told of the years when law and order, education and health were all run by a handful of Westminster MPs who represented a party Scotland hadn't voted for. The very notion already feels antique – like East Germany, or car windows you have to wind down with a handle.
I've long held the view that the tragedies and troubles that befell the Scottish Parliament in its first few years – the death of Donald Dewar, the demise of Henry McLeish, the national revulsion at the cost of the Holyrood building – were in many ways the making of it. The process of dealing with these accelerated the Parliament's development, taking it through phases that might otherwise have lasted a quarter of a century. So Dewar's caution gave way to McLeish's small-n nationalism which begat Jack McConnell's more managerial style, and all within three years of Sheena Wellington's famous rendition of A Man's A Man For A' That. It was one of the reasons why, by the time we reached 2007, Scots felt comfortable with the notion of trying out a Nationalist as First Minister, in the face of much scaremongering. Just eight years old, this was a mature and confident democracy.
So, ten years on from the birth of the Scottish Parliament, what have we learned, apart from the fact that we can no longer fit into those jeans? I think we can boil it down to four simple lessons.
1. Actually, We're Not As Crap As The Cynics Said We Were. Some of us have always been immune to the Scottish cringe, but a decade ago it still had a grip on the nation's throat. Now, however, the view that we're too small, too stupid and too damn Scottish to do anything as well as, or – heaven forfend – better than Westminster is now a minority view. Of course our politicians have made mistakes. But home rule has delivered reforms where Westminster feared to tread, and the MPs' expenses saga has, to say the least, shown Holyrood in a relatively healthy light. But the real positive has been an increased confidence that can be seen culturally and socially as well as politically. Death to the Scottish cringe. We're Scottish. We're fine. Get used to it.
2. Coalition Government Is Better Than Minority Government. This is a conclusion many people have yet to come round to, but it's one I think will increasingly become a truism of Scottish politics. A coalition was Alex Salmond's preference when power seemed within his grasp, but circumstances and a failure of nerve on his part (and the Lib Dems) scuppered a deal. And so we have a minority Scottish Government which, while enjoying popular support, cannot command a parliamentary majority for any of its big-ticket policies. Minority rule certainly has advantages for a party that's keen to project a distinctive political identity and clearly defined message. But what good is a government that can't get things done? Much as Scots approve of Salmond's style as First Minister, we can't get by on swagger alone. An SNP-led coalition would have been far more stable, effective and productive. Maybe next time?
3. There's A Price To Be Paid For The Same-Old Same-Old. The rationale for devolution is to allow Scottish opinion to be reflected in the way Scotland is governed. This, of course, is a good thing. Except when it isn't. The views held by a majority of Scots on issues such as private sector involvement in the National Health Service have a very real effect on the quality of service we can expect from our frontline public services. A report earlier this year by economist John McLaren, a former adviser to three First Ministers, showed that the bumper cash giveaway of the past decade had produced far greater improvement in England than in Scotland on economic growth, attainment in schools and treatment in the NHS. What held Scotland back, he concluded, was an attachment to traditional models of public service which, while they flatter our instinct for solidarity and communitarianism, prevent the reforms that bring proven improvement. That choice is ours to make. But it's time some politicians stood up and pointed to the cost in lost opportunity, poorer health and fewer jobs.
4. The Journey Is More Important Than The Destination. This might sound counter-intuitive while we have a Nationalist government and a First Minister still talking about an independence referendum, but it's more effective to accrue powers for Holyrood little by little in the here and now than it is to keep your eyes on the distant horizon of full independence.
I suspect the wiser heads of the SNP can feel this too. Which is why the rumour going around political circles last week, that Gordon Brown was considering holding a vote on Scottish independence on the same day as next year's general election, will have chilled Nat strategists to the marrow. Independence is increasingly a branding exercise, a way of demonstrating the SNP's commitment to Scotland, rather than a practical policy for the present day.
So, these, I think, are the lessons of the past ten years and – more importantly – the foundations for the next ten. Scotland has come a long way since 1 July 1999 and the future, whatever it brings, need hold no fear for us. We may have our political differences, but on Wednesday, maybe we can all pause at home rule's ten-year milestone, and at the very least, toast our journey.
