The SNP: party with global ambition or a left-wing pressure group?

Wind energy alone is projected to produce enough energy to power every single home in the UK, and that is before we consider the seismic potential of tidal energy; it is highly likely that, curated properly, exports of green hydrogen will be the backbone of Scotland’s economy for decades, perhaps centuries, to come.

All of this, and the highly collaborative discussions we had in Orkney with Finance Minister Ivan McKee MSP, Shadow Economy Secretary Daniel Johnson MSP and the outstanding Orkney MSP Liam McArthur, came back to mind as I observed the furore over the meeting held by Angus Robertson, Scotland’s External Affairs Secretary, with the Deputy Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Daniela Grudsky.

Mr Robertson’s role is not without controversy. Scotland is not a state, and doesn’t need a pretendy foreign secretary, say some unionists, amongst them those who populated the Conservative UK government in recent years. However, say nationalist strategists, Scotland needs to think like a state and act like a state if it wants to be a state, so having a foreign secretary in all-but-name makes strategic and political sense.

Both have a point, to a degree, but I must say I see it a little differently. Scotland needs to speak with a voice which is louder than that which can be spoken for us by the UK Government. I say this as an opponent of independence for Scotland; sometimes the UK does not do a full enough job of representing the unique needs of Scotland on the global stage.

This is not a criticism per se, rather a reflection of the fact that the UK has four nations and multiple regions to represent, and as ten per cent of the whole, they cannot be expected to focus only on Scotland. The UK Government cannot be expected to focus only on Scotch whisky when it is also attempting to extol the virtues of the rapidly expanding English wine industry. It cannot be expected to talk only about Scottish salmon when it is also burnishing the credentials of Welsh lamb (we have that too, of course!) And London cannot be expected to push only Scottish renewable energy potential when it is also being lobbied by the offshore wind industry developing around the coasts of the rest of Britain.

Sometimes, Scotland needs to sell our own wares in addition to the UK selling them for us. We have a significant and unique position in the world, we have geographical advantages in energy, food and drink production as well as in security and defence, we have access to Nordic and Arctic countries, and we have our own, separate soft power, from tartan and bagpipes to a Scottish diaspora around the globe which may be anywhere from five to ten times our own population. I have seen Mr Robertson in action on more than one occasion, and I can tell you that he is very, very good at this. He knows his audience, he knows his message, and he tells Scotland’s story with aplomb.

Read more

Andy Maciver: The next Scottish leader must expel the Tory party mafia

Andy Maciver: The gap we need to close is the opportunity gap

Nonetheless, being a player on the world stage comes with responsibility. External affairs are a balancing act between the joy and exultation of promoting energy, salmon and whisky, and the hard yards of diplomacy, navigating the difficult matter of speaking to representatives of countries with whom we may not always agree.

Like Israel.

The fallout over this rather humdrum meeting has been, more than anything else, an instructive window into the modern day SNP. It has been a window into a party which is struggling to define itself, and to decide what it wants to be. On the one hand, it is a player. A party of government with global ambition and a desire to sit at the top table. On the other hand, a left-wing pressure group.

The trouble comes when they try to have it both ways. The behaviour of the Israeli government in its prosecution of this war against Hamas has been utterly abhorrent and wildly disproportionate. But, because the SNP government’s alter ego - the left-wing pressure group - has won this week, we will now shun one of the few democratic countries in the Middle East, and an ally no less.

No other serious democratic country has cut relations with Israel but, de facto, that is now the position of the Scottish Government. We are now a country which will speak to the Palestinians without fear of domestic retribution, but which is almost certain not to take a meeting with Israel for the foreseeable future. We will try to play a part in solving the world’s most intractable conflict by speaking to only one side.

(Image: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu)

This is symptomatic of a wider problem in the SNP. It is increasingly a party which seems more at ease chasing rainbows and reciting pronouns than addressing the gritty, difficult issues of governing. More at ease with the moral superiority of superficial progressiveness than the hard pragmatism that people such as Mr Robertson bring to the table.

This week’s mess is a microcosm of the problem the SNP has had in taking Scotland that “final mile” to independence. Too often, the pressure group infiltrates the government. The fantasy infiltrates the reality. Too often, they make it impossible for that elusive, centrist waverer to feel confident in the devil they don’t know.

This was, of course, supposed to change under John Swinney and Kate Forbes. After the chaos of the coalition, the adults, we thought, had entered the room. That may yet prove to be the case. They barely had their feet under the desk when the election was called, and we are only now another month hence.

But the clock to the Holyrood election is ticking. In a week or so, after the SNP’s annual conference, we will know whether this party understands why it lost, and remembers how to win.