14 March 2009

The wood and the trees

What is the point of the SNP Government? If there was ever a programme for government, it seems to be disintegrating.

The abandonment of the forestry leasing plan is probably sensible (particularly as there are other means of securing private sector investment in the forestry industry), but it does raise the question: what is the Salmond administration for? Local income tax is postponed sine die; smaller school classes look undeliverable; ditto those 1000 extra rozzers. There are problems with the already watered-down booze restrictions. Direct elections to health boards have survived for now, but their inherent contradictions are bound to emerge sooner or later. There is of course the credit crunch - which unfortunately exposes the administration's inability to make much of a difference. (Sure, they have powers over infrastructure but, until they get the capital programme in order, it's not going to have an immediate effect.) Which leaves the independence referendum, again unlikely to go anywhere, judging from last week's vote in parliament.

If I were Mr Salmond I might be worried - but then, with the possible exception of the Greens, no other Scottish political party has much of a programme either.

1 comment:

subrosa said...

I like the way the Scottish government operates and so do many other people - hence the result in Dundee this week.

They propose something, put it out to public consultation, take the advice of many experts then decide. That's good government, listening to the people. The people like that and it's a breath of fresh air to them. So what if a proposal is dropped, at least they govern giving respect to public opinion.

I'm not going to defend your other points as many have shown them to be false.