The House magazine, SNP conference special

No.1528 • Volume 37 • 16 October 2015

Stewart Hosie Natalie McGarry Joanna Cherry Eilidh Whiteford Brendan O’Hara George Kerevan Callum McCaig Drew Hendry

Parliament’s Magazine

C O N F E R E N C E S P E C I A L

I N T E R V I E W

C O M M E N T

Tommy Sheppard The problem with Corbyn

P R O F I L E

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh The ‘butterfl y’ effect

The SNP Westminster Leader on why his party is now the ‘effective Opposition’

ANGUS ROBERTSON

O P I N I O N

Iain Macwhirter Will SNP unity hold?

01 Cover.indd 1 08/10/2015 13:55:05

ARTWORKER STUDIO CREATIVE SERV ART DIR/DESIGNER COPYWRITER CREATIVE DIR ACC MAN

MASIUS File name: X4677_01_MAP MANUFACTURING UK_270x420_House MagPublication: The House Client: HEATHROW Size: 270x420mmDate: 02/10/15 Operator: CARL Studio Proof: 01 Client Proof: 01

A decision for Heathrow is a decision

for manufacturing.Expanding Heathrow will create up to

94,000 new manufacturing jobs across the country. It’s a new and ambitious vision,

now backed by the Airports Commission. We’re ready to work with the

Government to deliver.

heathrow.com/takingbritainfurther #TakingBritainFurther

Source: Airports Commission: Strategic Fit: GDP/GVA Impacts. PWC. June 2015

X4677_01_MAP MANUFACTURING UK_270x420_House Mag.indd 1 02/10/2015 15:31heathrow dps.indd 1 06/10/2015 17:06:33

ARTWORKER STUDIO CREATIVE SERV ART DIR/DESIGNER COPYWRITER CREATIVE DIR ACC MAN

MASIUS File name: X4677_01_MAP MANUFACTURING UK_270x420_House MagPublication: The House Client: HEATHROW Size: 270x420mmDate: 02/10/15 Operator: CARL Studio Proof: 01 Client Proof: 01

A decision for Heathrow is a decision

for manufacturing.Expanding Heathrow will create up to

94,000 new manufacturing jobs across the country. It’s a new and ambitious vision,

now backed by the Airports Commission. We’re ready to work with the

Government to deliver.

heathrow.com/takingbritainfurther #TakingBritainFurther

Source: Airports Commission: Strategic Fit: GDP/GVA Impacts. PWC. June 2015

X4677_01_MAP MANUFACTURING UK_270x420_House Mag.indd 1 02/10/2015 15:31heathrow dps.indd 2 06/10/2015 17:06:38

Dods at Party Conference

THURSDAY 15TH OCTOBER – FRIDAY 16TH OCTOBER, ABERDEEN EXHIBITION AND CONFERENCE CENTRE

Visit our full listing of fringe events and speakers at www.dodspartyconference.co.uk

Health & Care Forum Reception17:00 – 18:00Room 15/16, AECC

Health & Care Forum Debate 12:30 – 13:30Balmoral Suite, AECC

The Value of Veterans18:30 – 19:30Room 10, AECC

How do we achieve a fair work future for Scotland?08:30 – 09:30

Room 2, AECC

Please note this event is by invitation only, please email [email protected] for more information.

What is stopping UK businesses from exploring new markets? Persisting barriers and possible solutions09:30 – 11:00Shire Room, Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce (outside secure zone)


How Does the UK’s Approach to Financial Capability Need to Adapt to Better Help the Modern Day Consumer?08:30 – 09:30

Room 10, AECC


THURSDAY 15TH OCTOBER Day1

FRIDAY 16TH OCTOBER Day2

From recovery to prosperity: seizing opportunities at home and abroad17:00 – 18:00Gordon Suite B, AECC

Are Scotland’s Interests Being Well Served by the UK’s Runway Debate?18:30 – 19:30Boardroom A & B, AECC

Rail Industry Reception18:30 – 19:30Room 10, AECC

Small Business Question Time12:30 – 13:30Room 10, AECC

The Gender Agenda - putting women at the centre of economic recovery17:00 – 18:00Room 10, AECC

Dods SNP Fringe Listing.indd 1 08/10/2015 11:23:33

| THE HOUSE MAGAZINE | 516 OCTOBER 2015WWW.POLITICSHOME.COM

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No 1528 • Vol 37 • 16 October 2015

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EDITOR Gisela Stuart MP

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W elcome to the SNP Conference edition of The House, Westminster’s very

own internal magazine delivered to every MP and peer. Special editions of The House are a regular feature

at the annual Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem conferences. This is the very � rst such special edition produced for an SNP conference – another symptom of the gargantuan changes wrought by the election of 56 Scottish Nationalist MPs in May. Inside, Natalie McGarry looks at an amazing year in which the SNP turned (narrow) defeat in the referendum into unprecedented electoral gain [p8]. The SNP is now the third largest party in the House of Commons. Not since Charles Parnell’s Irish Home Rulers arrived in force in the 1880s has a nationalist party been so potentially in� uential at Westminster. SNP leader at Westminster, Angus Robertson, explains how the group will use that in� uence [p14]. And Tommy Sheppard [p22] ponders the impact of Jeremy Corbyn on Labour’s future prospects in Scotland – and for an anti-austerity pact with the SNP at Westminster. Scotland now has a distinct voice in the House of Commons – and in The House magazine. GEORGE KEREVAN MP FOR EAST LOTHIAN

6 WELCOME TO CONFERENCE By SNP Business Convener Derek Mackay

8 REVIEW OF THE YEAR Natalie McGarry looks back on a transformational 12 months for the party

12 OPINION There are some big decisions ahead for the SNP, writes Iain Macwhirter

14 COVER INTERVIEW Westminster Leader Angus Robertson on opposing the Tories, SNP unity and his ‘disappointment’ with Corbyn

22 FEATURE Tommy Sheppard on the prospects for the Corbyn-led Labour party north of the Border

24 ECONOMY & WELFARE Stewart Hosie

26 ECONOMY & WELFARE Eilidh Whiteford

27 BUSINESS Chris Stephens

28 PROFILE Elizabeth Bates talks to SNP rising star Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh

30 HOME AFFAIRS Joanna Cherry

31 ENERGY Callum McCaig

32 ENVIRONMENT Calum Kerr

34 HEALTH Philippa Whitford

36 EDUCATION Carol Monaghan

39 TRANSPORT Drew Hendry

42 BRITAIN & THE WORLD Brendan O’Hara

44 BRITAIN & THE WORLD Patrick Grady

45 HISTORY George Kerevan on the rise of the SNP

Contents3022 31

44

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05 Contents.indd 5 08/10/2015 13:41:15

IET calls for action Engineering and technology are crucial to the UK’s

economy and the IET is actively engaged in a wide range of engineering and technology-related policy areas.

ENERGY1. The IET is calling for the UK to become

a clear and infl uential global leader in climate change mitigation and adaptation, encouraging exports of new low carbon technologies and equipment.

2. The IET is calling on Government to move energy effi ciency up the political agenda – and also support community

energy schemes that can provide heating, cooling, electricity production and heat storage, leading to greater overall effi ciency and cheaper bills.

MANUFACTURING AND INNOVATION

1. The IET is calling for increased Government support for innovation – including by growing the network of Catapult technology transfer centres and by engaging SMEs.

2. The IET is calling for simplifi ed application processes for Government support initiatives to make it easier for SMEs to get the help they need.

TRANSPORT The IET is calling for long-term investment in a connected UK transport system to improve reliability, comfort and speed – and reduce congestion and emissions.

EDUCATION 1. The IET is calling on the Government to

monitor the performance of STEM in schools through explicit Ofsted evaluation criteria.

2. The IET is calling for the Government to introduce schemes and incentives to promote upskilling and retraining the work age population to help address skills shortage issues in the short term.

ITThe IET is calling for a single Government department responsible for driving a unifi ed approach to cyber security, ecommerce, privacy and legislation fi t for the 21st Century Digital Economy.

COMMUNICATIONSThe IET is calling for the UK to become a global leader in developing and introducing the next generation of mobile and fi xed networks.

For further information,please visit

www.theiet.org/policy

The Institution of Engineering and Technology is registered as a Charity in England and Wales (No. 211014) and Scotland (No. SCO38698).

SSD989 IET Calls For Action - House Single Page Ad-v4-FINAL.indd 1 15/05/2015 10:46IET.indd 1 06/10/2015 17:01:37

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across the country, as people continue to put their trust in us to be strong voices for their communities and to stand up for Scotland.

This growth does not just represent a change in our party – it represents a fundamental change in our country and how we do politics. The referendum engaged, excited and energised a new generation of political activists who were simply unwilling to go back to the sidelines. And it is this new generation – under the outstanding leadership of Nicola Sturgeon – which will continue to take our party forward to even greater success in the years to come.

Because while the success of our party in recent times has been nothing less than staggering, we have absolutely no intention of resting on our laurels. The First Minister has already set our legions of activists the ambitious target of knocking on 500,000 doors between Conference and Christmas – as we kick off our campaign to win another parliamentary majority in the Scottish Parliament.

And in doing so, we can be proud to stand on our record in government – maintaining free university education, taking strong action on justice which sees crime at its lowest level

in 41 years, investing in major infrastructure projects, protecting our most vulnerable people from the Bedroom Tax, taking forward pioneering legislation on land reform and community empowerment and investing in

our NHS, taking its budget to over £12bn for the �rst time ever, with staff numbers at a record high.

This record stands in stark contrast to that of our opponents, with the Tories continuing with their austerity agenda and their relentless attack on the poor which Scotland completely rejects, while Labour are all over the place on key issues

from Trident to tuition fees – barely seen as a credible party of opposition, never mind a credible party of government.

Next year’s election is Scotland’s opportunity to build on this record of delivery and success over the last eight years and to re-elect Nicola Sturgeon as our First Minister. I’m con�dent that people in Scotland will grab that opportunity with both hands when they go to the polls in May – and continue Scotland’s journey to a fairer, more prosperous society for everyone who lives here.

Annual Conference meets in Aberdeen on the back of an astonishing year for the Scottish National Party – a year in which the unprecedented democratic

engagement unleashed by Scotland’s referendum translated into an equally unprecedented growth in our party.

When we last met in this city in the spring of 2014, we had 25,000 members and only six MPs – now I am privileged to have the opportunity to chair the conference of a party with more than 112,000 members and which stands proudly not only as Scotland’s party of government, but as the third-largest party at Westminster.

And even since the General Election, we have seen the SNP continue to win and to gain votes and seats in council by-elections

The new generation, under the outstanding leadership of Nicola, will continue to take our party forward to even greater success in the years to come

Derek Mackay SNP MSP for Renfrewshire North & West and SNP Business Convener

We meet for conference after a staggering year. But as we head to May we must build on our success, writes Derek Mackay

time No rest to

07 Mackay.indd 7 06/10/2015 17:40:14

8 | THE HOUSE MAGAZINE | 16 OCTOBER 2015 WWW.POLITICSHOME.COM

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As a new SNP MP, my life has changed a lot in the past year – and so has Scotland. Alex Salmond was bang on when he said the referendum had

changed Scotland, and changed it utterly. Along with 1.6 million other Scots, I

was devastated on the 19th of September. But the referendum left a strong legacy of political engagement and an unstoppable momentum for change that has seen the Scottish political landscape transformed.

It was clear in the week after the referendum result that the appetite for real political change hadn’t been quashed. I was in Brussels to give a speech to the New World Summit about the referendum and the hue

New MP Natalie McGarry looks back on 12 months

that transformed her life, her party and her country

of my speech changed in the hours before I delivered it as the SNP’s soaring membership spoke to a tangible desire for meaningful control over our country’s future.

The nation wanted to see real powers. During the referendum, the No campaign parties had vowed federalism, Home Rule and Devo Max. Instead, we got a limp Smith Commission and a Tory Prime Minister who, more interested in English Votes for English Laws, desperately tried to make Scotland’s constitutional arrangements all about his MPs and their rights. The Tories thinking only about themselves – I suppose we should have seen that one coming.

As Westminster stayed the same unrepresentative, out-of-touch institution

we had campaigned so strongly against in the Yes campaign, the Scottish people were preparing to make their feelings heard.

Johann Lamont, the embattled Scottish Labour leader, resigned with an almighty parting shot against Labour “dinosaurs” in the Daily Record. The paper carried the “exclusive” claim that the party’s MPs and high-heidyins in London treated Scottish Labour as a “branch of� ce”, in news that will come as a surprise to absolutely nobody. Luckily, Jim Murphy stepped in to take control of the ailing party and restore Labour’s fortunes.

Around the same time as Lamont’s resignation, Nicola Sturgeon succeeded Alex to become leader of the SNP and First Minister, and she hit the ground running with a sell-out national tour. I think I’m right in saying she became the � rst rock star to play the Hydro arena without ever releasing a single – though hopefully lucky SNP delegates may yet get to sample her musical talents at conference karaoke!

Nicola � red the starting gun for the 2015 campaign, putting opposition to austerity and the demand for more powers for Scotland � rmly on the agenda. Her annual conference speech in Perth made absolutely clear that no seat in Scotland was off-limit for the SNP.

That autumn a number of friends persuaded me to stand to be a candidate for Westminster, and I was incredibly grateful to be selected by SNP members in Glasgow East. It was clear even then that things were changing in Labour’s former heartlands.

In streets where SNP canvassers were

The year thatScotland changed

Nicola Sturgeon celebrates with SNP supporters on election night in May

08-10 year in review.indd 8 06/10/2015 17:41:14

AT LOCKHEED MARTIN,WE’RE ENGINEERING A BETTER TOMORROW.

© 20202© 2015 L1515 L1 OCKHOCKHOCKHEEED ED MARTARTARTIN CNIN ORPOORPORPORATIRATIRATIONONO

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lockheed.indd 1 08/10/2015 16:34:02


Natalie McGarry is SNP MP for Glasgow East and Spokesperson for Disabilities

once met with hostile glares and doors slammed in faces, some of our activists began to be greeted like old friends by voters they had never met. Journalist after journalist who accompanied me on the doorsteps was astounded; it wasn’t just SNP rhetoric, people who voted No in the referendum were choosing to vote SNP at Westminster.

There was a political momentum in Scotland that built for months and months. Labour’s time-old “vote SNP, get Tory” trope was relentlessly trotted out, but effectively debunked both nationally by the SNP and on social media by ordinary people. As in the referendum, people went online for their information and bypassed the tired Labour spin.

On the night of May 7th, I honestly wasn’t sure whether I had won. Our canvassing returns were unbelievably strong – and completely accurate as it played out – and the national polling was phenomenal, but as a veteran of unsuccessful campaigns, there is always that element of doubt. I entered the count at 10:45 to be congratulated � rst by a senior Labour Party of� cial who told me I had “skooshed it”. It was obvious as early as that, though my of� cial result would be in the wee hours. The scale of our victory in Labour’s former heartlands and the magnitude of the SNP landslide across Scotland was predicted, but still unbelievable.

There was little opportunity to take events in, however, as the next Monday it was down to Westminster to get on with the job.

The House of Commons is surreal, and for the large team of SNP MPs coming down it was a culture shock. Suddenly we were under intense scrutiny and criticism – from our “shameful” clapping to the choice of chips for lunch and the casual anti-Scottish remarks from genteel Tory grandees. And despite having seen PMQs on TV, I was not

prepared for the utterly bizarre experience of being faced by a wall of jeering Tory MPs. Nothing productive happens at PMQs. It is grandstanding, and a national disgrace. Being a normal human being, I still struggle to understand why it is unacceptable for the SNP to show appreciation through applause but totally � ne for the Tories to bray like farmyard animals in order to drown their opposition out.

Over the summer it became clear that Labour were not offering any opposition. On issue after issue, it was the SNP who were standing up to the Government’s agenda. Pressure from our MPs forced U-turns on the Human Rights Act, the rules governing the EU referendum, EVEL and fox-hunting.

But Labour’s lack of ambition on devolution meant that our efforts to strengthen the new Scotland Bill have been blocked. Not a single amendment put forward by the party which represents the vast majority of Scotland’s constituencies has been accepted, with Tory MPs missing the debate but crawling out the bars, their of� ces,

and nooks and crannies to troop through the lobbies to vote our proposals down.

The nadir for Labour came when they decided to abstain on the Welfare Reform and Work Bill, a piece of legislation � lled with savage cuts and attacks on those on low incomes and people with disabilities. Lonely in the opposition voting lobby, my colleagues and I decided to make a stand and occupied the entire Labour frontbench, making the symbolic but important point that we are the real opposition at Westminster.

For many Labour members, Jeremy Corbyn’s shock success was a source of hope that the party would � nally stand up to the Tories. But now, Corbyn seems to be backtracking on all of his key policies. It is less Corbyn changing Labour than Labour changing Corbyn. The chances of Labour opposing Trident or scrapping tuition fees south of the Border look slimmer than ever. As long as Labour remain as bitterly divided as they are, they will be unable to deliver the

progress Scotland needs.As we gather for our largest

ever conference, the SNP is in high spirits and in a strong position for the Scottish Parliament next year. People know we will continue to stand for progressive politics, and that we have the vision and

leadership to take Scotland forward.Over the coming months we will

campaign hard to keep the voters’ trust and win the elections in May. The polls look good just now but we can never let complacency undermine our chances of winning – and we need to knock on more doors and speak to more voters than ever before.

Our country has come so far in the past year, and with the SNP’s strong record and bold ideas for the future, we can take Scotland so much further. We can change Scotland as much over the next year as it has in the last one

I still struggle to understand why it’s unacceptable for the SNP to applaud but totally fi ne for the Tories to bray like farmyard animals

The new SNP MPs arrive at Westminster after their landslide victory

08-10 year in review.indd 10 06/10/2015 17:41:28

Britain needs a solution to the air capacity crisis.

Let’s go for one we can deliver.

Expanding Gatwick would cost half as much as expanding Heathrow, and would also require no public funding.

A second runway would connect Britain to as many international destinations as Heathrow. Gatwick also projects it will connect with 15 UK airports, compared to 11 today.

Gatwick will still stay well within EU air quality limits, even after expansion.

A second runway at Gatwick would result in far fewer people being affected by noise than at Heathrow.

This year, at least 40 million passengers will pass through Gatwick – a number that the Commission suggested could only be reached by 2024.

The Airports Commission recommended Heathrow for expansion, but the Report is unravelling fast.

COMMISSION: IMPOSSIBLEA second runway at Gatwick remains the best option for the whole of the UK.

BA called Heathrow “a vanity project” and said it won’t contribute to the £18.6 billion price tag.

TfL highlighted that a third runway would reduce domestic fl ights from the current 7 routes to just 4.

A condition of expansion is “acceptable” air quality, but air around Heathrow already breaches the legal limit.

Heathrow seems unwilling to agree to certain expansion conditions, including ruling out a fourth runway and measures to limit noise and pollution for millions of Londoners.

The Commission failed to present an accurate economic evaluation, highlighting fi gures on which its own experts urged caution. It also downplayed the modest differences between the economic benefi ts of Heathrow and Gatwick seen when the Treasury’s recommended analysis is properly applied.

gatwickobviously.com and @LGWobviously

gatwick.indd 1 06/10/2015 17:02:52


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The SNP hasn’t always been the dominant force in Scottish politics. As recently as 2010, it had only six MPs in the whole of Scotland, against Labour’s 41.

Times change. The party now has 56 MPs out of 59 in Scotland – that’s 95% of the seats. All the more remarkable since, only nine months previously, the SNP had lost the independence referendum. The losers won it all. The 2015 general election “tsunami” was a landmark event in Scottish and UK history. The only comparable result was the Sinn Fein landslide in 1918 when Ireland was still part of the UK. But even then the Irish nationalists won only 73 out of 105 MPs.

Sinn Fein withdrew from Westminster after 1918 and declared secession. The SNP did the reverse: they took their seats and declared themselves the “true” opposition in parliament. Indeed, the Speaker John Bercow has commended them as “good parliamentarians”.

Success brings its own problems, however. Many of the new MPs are relatively unknown. One of them, the Business Spokeswoman, Michelle Thomson, has resigned the party whip following alleged involvement in property speculation. The 56 is already the 55.

Moreover, the reality is that in a parliament of 650, 55 MPs cannot expect to win many votes. They have failed to secure any amendments to the Scotland Bill, and

if the government perseveres with plans to introduce ‘EVEL’, the SNP could be left on the margins. This may not worry the leadership greatly, however, because the real centre of SNP power is not in Westminster, but 480 miles away in the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh.

Holyrood is up for election in May 2016, and according to the opinion polls, the SNP stands to make even more gains this time. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s popularity has actually increased since the general

election, and Labour could lose all of its constituency seats.

Indeed, some are raising questions about whether Scotland is becoming a one party state, so dominant are the SNP. They have an overall majority in a unicameral legislature and there has been very little internal dissent in the party, despite U-turns on issues like membership of Nato.

Labour claim that the SNP government has failed to address issues like educational inequality and increased waiting times in the NHS. The Scottish Lib Dems think the SNP has an illiberal centralising tendency.

But there is little evidence as yet that the

Scottish voters are losing their affection for Sturgeon, who has almost attained celebrity status. There has been some grumbling within the SNP’s own ranks, however, about their leader’s apparent reluctance to call an early repeat referendum. Some Nationalists are urging her to press her advantage and go for broke. The leadership was even accused, by the former SNP deputy leader Jim Sillars, of effectively rigging their conference to avoid a full debate on the referendum issue.

Others in the wider independence movement complain that the SNP is failing to address issues that caused the loss of last year’s referendum. The currency issue, for example, which many believe discouraged potential supporters from voting ‘Yes’, has not been reviewed. Indeed, there has been very little attempt by the SNP to review the referendum and draw lessons from the result.

Sturgeon’s caution, however, is understandable. If another vote was held, and lost, that would be hugely damaging not just for the independence cause, but for the security of all those SNP parliamentarians who are enjoying their celebrity and in�uence. After all, political parties are all about winning and keeping power, and the SNP is no different.

There’s little evidence that Scottish voters are losing their affection for Sturgeon

The SNP’s popularity continues

to soar, but the party has a big

decision to make, writes Iain

Macwhirter

Treadingcarefully

Iain Macwhirter is political commentator for the Herald and Sunday Herald and author of Disunited Kingdom – how Westminster won a referendum but lost Scotland

12 opinion.indd 12 08/10/2015 13:27:22

DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPEMost people living in communities near Heathrow Airport support its expansion1

Find out morewww.backheathrow.org1The latest independent polling shows 60% of local residents, expressing an opinion supported expansion. The research, the first since the Airports Commission made a unanimous recommendation that Heathrow should expand, highlights a strong level of local support in the constituencies surveyed. The polling organisation Populus interviewed 12,004 residents from Spelthorne, Richmond Park, Brentford & Isleworth, Feltham & Heston, Windsor, Ealing North, Ealing Southall, Uxbridge & South Ruislip, Slough, Hayes & Harlington, Beaconsfield.

RALLYING FORTHE RUNWAY!

back heathrow.indd 1 06/10/2015 17:09:02


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Angus Robertson is giving me a talking to. As I arrive in his of�ce – until the election the Commons’ HQ of Nick Clegg – I’m brusquely told that this

is the �rst time The House magazine has interviewed the Westminster leader of the Scottish National Party in over eight years.

It’s a pretty dismal record, I admit, and after delivering a brief upbraiding Robertson is appeased. It is, he adds, simply one more “hangover” from an era where Scotland’s voice was too often marginalised in Westminster.

But things have undoubtedly shifted dramatically in Scottish politics in the past 12 months. The SNP are a serious force in parliamentary politics, and this week the London-based press will be decamping en masse to Aberdeen to cover the party’s conference; the media centre in the exhibition hall, Robertson points out, will be six times the size of last year’s.

“Our conference will be of unprecedented size and scale,” he says

With Labour divided under Jeremy Corbyn, Angus

Robertson is clear that the SNP are now the

‘effective Opposition’ to the Tory government. The

party’s Westminster leader talks to Daniel Bond

Leader

excitedly. “Compared to last year there will be four times as many seats in the hall, three times the size of exhibition space, three times as many fringe meetings and three times as many observers.”

And the mood in the centre, he continues, will be buoyant after 12 months of astonishing success following the bitter blow of the referendum defeat last September. Since then the party’s membership has more than quadrupled, they have picked up 56 of 59 Westminster seats, polls show the party is on course to win more than 60% of the vote in May’s Holyrood election and in Nicola Sturgeon they have a First Minister whose popularity ratings are unmatched in Britain.

But it’s not all good news. The past few weeks have also been amongst the most testing of Sturgeon’s short reign, as the party �nds itself at the centre of controversies in both London and Edinburgh. While the Scottish Government is facing questions over its decision to hand £150,000 in public money to the private �rm organising the

T in the Park music festival, an SNP MP – Michelle Thomson – has been forced to resign the party’s whip at Westminster while the police investigate alleged irregularities in property deals carried out on her behalf.

At the time of going to press Thomson’s case has been referred to the Commons standards watchdog, but speculation is growing that the SNP is already preparing the ground for a by-election in her seat of Edinburgh West. Robertson says it is right for the “appropriate authorities” to deal with the allegations.

But for a party that has long traded off its reputation for opposing ‘Westminster elites’ and doing ‘a different kind of politics’, the two rows risk in�icting lasting damage. Does the SNP’s rhetoric on ‘new politics’ put extra pressure on the party to be whiter than white on issues of probity?

Robertson says that all political parties should “work as hard as they can to uphold the highest standards”, but adds that the SNP must not take its overwhelming support in Scotland for granted. “The

Opposition?of the

Words: Daniel BondPhotos: Paul Heartfield

14-20 robertson.indd 14 08/10/2015 14:02:24


14-20 robertson.indd 15 08/10/2015 14:02:26


SNP is in an exciting position as a political force which has seen its membership rise astronomically, which has seen its electoral success reach unprecedented levels, of con�dence in its political leaders at extremely high levels, and the minute that any political party takes such levels of support for granted will be the time when dif�culties begin,” he warns.

“We have no intention of taking our eye off the ball of what our job is, which is to govern in Scotland, to be the effective opposition in Westminster and to champion the issues that the electorate

elected us to lead on.” But while he says it is right for all

“serious issues” to be investigated, he also claims there have been “examples of excessive media intrusion and overwriting on certain stories”. “There is a cycle of media interest and desire, particularly amongst newspapers that are extremely hostile to the SNP, to write negative stories,” he claims.

But he adds: “We are in a circumstance where the SNP holds almost every single seat in the country, and we have a very ineffective political opposition in Scotland,

so I think the press has an important role in holding politicians to account.

“I think politicians have a job to make the case and if it’s dif�cult to make that in the mainstream media – and that’s been the case for the SNP – you have to develop your ability to campaign and communicate directly with the electorate. We’ve managed to do that extremely successfully. But I think the media has an important role.”

Is there a lesson there for Jeremy Corbyn, another leader facing a tough and hostile media? “I’ll leave it to Jeremy Corbyn and others to spend their time attacking the media. In Scotland we have had literally no mainstream media support, editorially, for a long time. And that hasn’t stopped the SNP being successful. The media has a role to play and politicians need to get on with it.”

The election of Corbyn has deprived the SNP of several of its most effective attack

“There have been a whole series of studies into what happened in the 2014 referendum

campaign and what the result meant in terms of different levels of support for independence or

opposition in different demographic groups, and all these runes have been read and are being

reflected on and will continue to be reflected.”

Robertson on... Learning Lessons From 2014

14-20 robertson.indd 16 08/10/2015 14:02:31

Do the SNP really want Scottish Independence?After the SNP’s historic victory

in the 2015 General Election in Scotland, nationalist politicians

can reasonably ask - What is the next step in the battle to break-up the UK? (for that is what Scottish Independence amounts to). In particular can Scotland gain independence without the help of England? Were nationalist parties in Wales and Northern Ireland ever to win similar victories to the SNP in a future General Election, there would still not be enough Nationalist MPs in Westminster to force the break-up of the United Kingdom. 533 out of 650 MPs in Westminster are elected in England, so the arithmetic of UK population means that England always has an overwhelming majority. The reality for the SNP is that whilst many of their supporters dislike the English, they may have no option but to seek England’s help if they are serious about breaking up the United Kingdom. Where is this help to come from though? All parties with MPs elected in England are Unionist, even though they all have Scottish versions for electoral advantage. The Conservatives helped the SNP in 2015 by raising the spectre of ‘Labour in alliance with Scots Nats’ as part of their electioneering, but they seem incapable of even modest reforms to Westminster on the West Lothian Question. There is only one political party in England that has a similar separatist agenda as the SNP, the English Democrats. In 2013 they adopted a policy of complete Independence for

people are increasingly fed-up with the complaints of the other nations of the UK, who all receive more state-subsidy than any part of England. The English do not look kindly on ingrates, and are unlikely to be generous to them in negotiations about the break-up of UK”. Robin Tilbrook (Chairman) added, “It is possible that some of the strategy used by Conservatives in 2015 General Election came from conversations I had with Lynton Crosby. The English Democrats want Independence for England, we want to break-up the UK, and we’re prepared to work with anyone to obtain that goal. Perhaps the SNP should apply the same strategy!”.

The English Democrats

England, but left open the question of what would happen to the rest of the UK. They recently held their 13th Annual Conference in Leicester, where we asked some of their senior activists their take on the situation. Asked why the SNP, do not actively promote the English Democrats, Robin Tilbrook, Chairman stated – “I sometimes wonder whether the SNP does really want Independence. Perhaps it really wishes to continue to receive very substantial subsidies from the English tax payer for as long as possible, and uses its campaign for Independence to give it leverage. I would like to be persuaded otherwise”. Steve Uncles, Campaign Director pointed out that informal discussions had taken place with Angus McNeil SNP MP, who had been kind enough to attend and speak at a previous English Democrats Conference. We were then hopeful that we could work with the SNP but nothing came of it. In 2011 an opinion poll by ComRes found 36% of English voters were in favour of independence for England, and that was in the face of years of Unionist propaganda from the media and establishment. A similar result (34%) was obtained in an ICM poll in September 2014. Derek Hilling, English Democrats National Secretary, who proposed the Independence for England policy at the 2013 Party Conference, said “We are working to translate English opinion in favour of Independence, into real constitutional change for UK. English

Steve Uncles, Campaign Director

Robin Tilbrook, Chairman

Derek Hilling, Party Secretary

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lines on Labour. On opposing austerity, on Trident, on tuition fees and on military intervention abroad, the party – or at least its leadership – is now much more in line with SNP policy. So how will the SNP respond?

Robertson says he welcomes the chance to work with Corbyn in a “progressive alliance” on issues where the parties agree, in particular on nuclear weapons. The pair have worked together on opposing Trident renewal in the past, and last year they travelled together to Vienna as part of a UK delegation to a conference on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons. But while he welcomes the new leader’s commitment on Trident, he says it is “disappointing” that he “appears unable to carry his party with him on that issue”.

The early signs of the Corbyn era, he adds, are not promising for those hoping for real change. “It’s disappointing that it’s taken only a few weeks for the shine to come off the hopes that people had in a progressive Corbyn Labour leadership delivering on the values, the priorities, they voted for in the leadership contest,” he says.

“He’s hardly been a few short weeks in the job and he’s already having to row back on the manifesto that Labour members elected him on. That says a lot about the Labour party and its internal divisions and sadly leaves the �eld free in England for the Tories to prosper just when the poorest in society need the greatest help and support.”

He continues: “We have already heard that Labour is not going to oppose the

Tory Charter for Budget Responsibility, we remember that Labour MPs abstained in opposing Tory welfare proposals. This year Labour has at its conference in principle approved of Trident replacement.

“None of this matches the rhetoric under which Jeremy Corbyn was elected. And I think that’s hugely disappointing, especially

to voters in England who are looking for a progressive political party that they can vote for. It already seems that the Labour party is so riven and divided that it’s unlikely that that will come from a Corbyn-led Labour party.”

He claims the divided Labour party, seeking to “kick every ball into every bit of long grass”, leaves the SNP as the “only effective opposition”. “There are emerging signs that even under the Corbyn leadership Labour will not be operating as the effective opposition at Westminster and it’s the SNP that will need to perform that role. We are in a new position as the third party at Westminster, and we take our responsibilities very seriously, not just for the people that voted for us, but all of the other people in the rest of the UK who have been yearning for a progressive voice that will challenge the Westminster elites, the complacency and the inability to re�ect the hopes and aspirations of people in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.”

Robertson also scoffs at the mention of press reports that Labour’s new leadership team has urged MPs not to refer to ‘Scotland’, but instead to refer

“I would hope that no sane politician would wish to kill tens if not millions of people by using

an indiscriminate weapon of mass destruction, and the time has come in the UK for an honest

debate about why some people think the UK should retain a weapons system that is unjustifiable,

whilst cutting conventional defence and making massive cuts to some of the poorest in our

society. The priorities are totally wrong.”

Robertson on... ‘Pressing The Button’

“It’s disappointing that it’s taken only a few weeks for the shine to come off Corbyn’s leadership”

14-20 robertson.indd 18 08/10/2015 14:02:50

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to individual towns and cities, for fear of “playing to the nationalist agenda”. “So what will they call the Scotland Bill, ‘the _ Bill?” Robertson laughs.

“Labour’s dif�culties in Scotland are compounded by an inability to understand where the constitutional debate is. The SNP is in a very strong position because we are representing the hopes of a massive part of the Scottish electorate who wish to see the promises made after the referendum delivered by the Tory government. The Labour party signed up to that Vow, that promise, and even they are saying it is not now being kept. If the biggest idea that the Labour party have in relation to Scotland is to tell their MPs not to mention Scotland, that shows just how lost they are. That they can’t even bring themselves to say ‘Scotland’ tells you everything you need to know about how lost the Labour party are in Scotland.”

And just as Labour looks at its most divided in decades, the SNP is resolutely determined to remain united, he says. Despite ideological divisions in the Westminster parliamentary party, from socialists on the left to free-market former business people on the right, Robertson says the “north star” of independence gives all SNP MPs and MSPs a “unity of purpose”. “That is part of the reason why we’ve been successful in recent years, and we know to value that above all else,” he explains.

The SNP leadership has been treading carefully around the idea of calling for a second independence referendum in the near future, with Sturgeon continuing to insist it would take a “material change” for the party to call for a new vote. Robertson says the party’s focus

for now is “entirely on re-electing the SNP as Scotland’s government in the Scottish Parliament elections next year and on doing our job as the effective opposition at Westminster”. He says more amendments to the Scotland Bill will be brought forward in the autumn, aimed at “highlighting the bill’s shortcomings” and ensuring “that the near-to-federalism-as-possible that we were promised will be delivered”.

But he’s also clear that independence

remains the �nal goal. “The First Minster has talked about a requirement for material change in circumstances that might trigger such a referendum, such as Scotland being taken out of the European Union against the wishes of the Scottish electorate,” he says. “But it will be for the public to decide if and when they would wish to have another vote, just as the people of Scotland decided they wanted to have another vote on devolution in 1997 having had a

previous referendum in 1979.” Pressed on whether the

SNP’s manifesto for May’s Holyrood election will include any pledges on such referendum triggers, Robertson replies that he “won’t be able to give away any sneak previews on the manifesto” just yet.

But he says that, 13 months after the referendum, the debate about Scotland’s constitutional future remains as vigorous as ever. “I can hardly open a newspaper or have a look at a blogsite without seeing people’s views on the subject, so there is a vigorous debate in Scotland. It is a huge live issue in Scotland which enthused the Scottish public for politics in a way no other subject has done for recent decades.

“And if and when the people of Scotland decide that they wish to have a second referendum on independence we’ll work hard to make sure Scotland becomes the independent country that we wish it to be.”

“All three UK parties are fighting amongst themselves in Scotland while the SNP is getting on

with the job of governing. We see no big ideas from the three UK parties except fighting among

themselves about who should be the main opposition to the SNP. Well that tells you everything

you need to know about the state of the opposition to the SNP in Scotland.”

Robertson on... The Unionist Parties

14-20 robertson.indd 20 08/10/2015 14:03:33

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22 | THE HOUSE MAGAZINE | 16 OCTOBER 2015

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Good luck to Jeremy Corbyn. The people of England deserve an anti-austerity alternative to the Tories. For too long a neo-liberal norm has dominated that

country’s political class, obliging the rest of the UK to follow. If Corbyn’s Labour Party can break that cosy consensus and be a voice for the unheard then few here will stand in their way.

But things are different in Scotland. Whereas in England there is a huge gap in the political market with no main party at the last election taking an anti-austerity, anti-nuclear, pro-welfare stance, that ground is occupied north of the Border.

Labour’s problem in Scotland is not just that it has become a hollow vestige of the party created by Keir Hardie, but that is has been replaced. There is a left of centre mass party in Scotland that champions ordinary people above the interests of global capital. It’s the SNP.

As James McEnaney puts it so sweetly writing in Commonspace: “Scotland didn’t leave home, Labour, we changed the locks while you were out.” This is why the surge in Labour membership never happened in Scotland. Those tens of thousands of people who might have joined had already been part of a much bigger surge ten months earlier.

During his leadership campaign I watched Corbyn on his trips to Scotland. It’s fair to say he didn’t look at ease. In part his pedigree is London-centric and the Metropolitan left have rarely felt the need to get involved in debates about the constitution. So he has a lot of catching up to do.

But a bigger problem is where and from whom Corbyn is getting advice on matters Scottish. I assume that he is taking brie�ngs from what remains of the Labour left in Scotland. And therein lies the problem. Most of what was once the Labour left have now gone from the party, many to build the new SNP. Few who believed in a

Labour’s problem in Scotland is not just that it has become a hollow vestige of the party created by Keir Hardie, but that is has been replaced

As the Labour leader backtracks furiously to

keep his party united south of the Border, the

SNP will continue leading the charge against

the Tory Government, writes Tommy Sheppard

means the

Corbyn

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22-23 Sheppard on Corbyn.indd 22 06/10/2015 16:47:41


If Labour stick with this failed agenda of SNP bashing and lies they’ll be going nowhere fast in Scotland

Tommy Sheppard is SNP MP for Edinburgh East. He was a member of the Labour Party from 1979 to 2003

Scottish dimension to politics have stayed. Those that remain are a parcel of rogues indeed, by de� nition set fair against any notion of proper devolution of power. They range from right-wingers who believe in the Union in principle to unreconstructed leftists for whom any discussion on constitutional reform is a diversion from the class struggle.

If Corbyn’s Labour takes its line from those who are left behind in the Scottish branch he makes a fatal mistake. These are the people who have taken Labour to where it is today. He might do better talking to the people who have left Labour in their droves over the last generation.

A new centre left consensus has grown in Scotland over the last 20 years. That view sees constitutional change and social democratic reform as two sides of the same coin; each both the consequence of and rationale for the other. People like me now have a very � rm view that the type of structural social and economic change we want is more likely to come about if we are a small country where a majority want that change than if we are part of a larger country where most do not. So our � ght for self-government is not just about having the trappings of a sovereign nation, but the

powers to change lives.I anticipate that the new new Labour

party will attack the SNP rather than the Tories as we go towards the Holyrood elections, claiming our record in government betrays our social democratic credentials. They will have dif� culty making that stick. Actually, the SNP’s record in government is pretty impressive, and people can increasingly see the differences in health and education services north and south of the border. Of course we would like to do more but the dogs in the street know we don’t set the amount of the Scottish budget and if Labour attempt to blame the SNP for cuts imposed by Westminster it won’t wash.

Regrettably though, it looks like truth will be the � rst casualty. Corbyn and McDonnell have both made a series of untrue statements about the SNP in recent weeks saying variously that we have

privatised Scotrail and Calmac, voted against the living wage or cut local government funding. It’s easy to check whether these things are true. They aren’t. So much for “straight talking honest

politics”. If Labour stick with this failed agenda of SNP bashing and lies they’ll be going nowhere fast in Scotland.

But perhaps the greatest problem for

Labour is that already they are backtracking furiously, trying to keep a united party in England. For reasons best known to themselves the new Labour leadership say they now agree with the overall � nancial framework set by George Osborne. The SNP do not. We shall once again vote against the Tories � scal limits, arguing for more time to eradicate the de� cit so that public spending cuts can be eased.

And the position on Trident is truly bizarre. The Labour conference voted to commit £100bn to replace Trident on the same day that their leader opposed it. I hope Jeremy Corbyn will vote with the SNP against the renewal of Trident – he has before – but the fact that in doing so he will deny his own party means we are unlikely to win.

We may make common cause with the Labour leader on resisting Tory welfare cuts, or trade union reforms, or wars, but in most cases it will be the SNP leading the charge as Labour’s backbenches abstain.

At the end of the day it boils down to whether you believe the people of Scotland should have the right to control the resources of their own country – or whether their ambition should be forever compromised by the wishes of their larger neighbour.

Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell have both ‘made a series of untrue statements about the SNP’ in recent weeks, writes Tommy Sheppard Bottom left: Corbyn and Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale are mobbed by reporters on a visit to Holyrood earlier this month

22-23 Sheppard on Corbyn.indd 23 06/10/2015 16:47:43


This may come as a shock but George Osborne is not always wrong. Almost, but not always.

One thing he said that is correct is: “We don’t export

enough; we don’t train enough; we don’t save enough; we don’t invest enough; we don’t manufacture enough; we certainly don’t build enough, and far too much of the economic activity is concentrated here in the centre of London.”

And he has restated these problems on many occasions. He is also right to focus on the key issue of productivity.

Not least because the UK does lag way behind the US, Germany, France and even Italy in GDP per hour worked.

We know that increasing Scotland’s total factor productivity by just 0.1% per year could boost GDP by 1.3%. In turn, that could boost employment by 11,000 and tax revenue by £400m a year after ten years.

The problem is that in most of his utterances he has failed miserably to tell us what he will do to tackle the causes of this problem.

On internationalisation – exports – there are certainly warm words, but very little substance. This is a massive oversight given the de�cit on the trade current account is £97.9bn – a very unwelcome record.

On investment – particularly in infrastructure – the UK Government are going backwards. Between the Budgets in March and July, George Osborne cut his plans for capital spending for every single year in this Parliament.

What he has done, of course is to insist

that the economy doesn’t simply break-even but runs at a current account surplus hitting £40bn by 2019/20.

But to do that he announced in July that additional welfare cuts would total £33bn in this Parliament and cuts to essential capital spending would be another £5bn.

This is the economics of the mad house – cutting £40bn more than is necessary to run a balanced budget – all of it paid for by punishing the poorest and stripping the

capital budget by another £5bn.

All of these plans, as usual, are dressed up as essential to tackle the de�cit and the debt. But it’s growth we need more than anything else

and you can’t cut your way to growth.To do that we must actually narrow the

inequality gap – this is absolutely vital to deliver stronger economic growth overall.

The UK lost 9% in GDP growth between

1990 and 2010 due to rising inequality in the UK. So it is irrational and counter-productive for the UK Government to be making the same mistakes all over again.

And to raise the threshold for inheritance tax at the same time as reducing tax credits for those on low incomes is to take from the poor to give to the rich.

We campaigned against austerity during the election this year and we continue to hold to that position.

A modest, real terms, increase in Government expenditure would have protected the poorest from the cuts this Government have embarked upon, protected Scotland’s budget and ensured that capital spending across the UK was not subject to further cuts.

These modest steps would still see the debt and de�cit fall. That is credible, �scally sustainable and the right thing to do.

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dressed up as essential to tackle the deficit. But it’s growth we need more than anything else and you can’t cut your way to growth

Stewart Hosie is SNP MP for Dundee East, Shadow Economy Group Leader and the SNP Deputy Westminster Leader

George Osborne’s plan will not only punish the poor, but leave the UK’s economy hobbled, writes Stewart Hosie

housemad theof

economics The

24 Hosie.indd 24 06/10/2015 16:49:17

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Santander UK Parliamentary ReceptionWednesday 2nd December 201516:00 – 18:00Churchill Room, House of Commons

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More for less – delivering essential defence capability in a constrained budget environmentTuesday 17th November 201508:30 – 10:15Dining Room B, House of Commons

What next for workplace pensions? How do we safeguard the success of auto enrolment in this Parliament?Wednesday 18th November 201508:30 – 10:15Dining Room B, House of Commons

The George Bradshaw AddressWednesday 24th February 201618:00 – 20:30One Great George Street, London

dods up coming events.indd 1 06/10/2015 17:10:33


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One of the most important characteristics of this parliamentary session will be the stringent changes to the social security and bene�ts regime

proposed by the UK Government – from how deep the cuts will go to how they will be implemented and, more importantly, the effects they will have on the everyday lives of people in Scotland.

Delivering a fairer deal for citizens in Scotland means ensuring that our people are not short-changed by UK Government cuts. The austerity programme has failed to deliver the economic objectives set for it, so it’s reprehensible that the Government has chosen to put low income families on the front line. It’s hard to ignore the fact that this approach hits the children in these families the hardest.

Many of the measures announced by the Chancellor in the recent Budget are regressive, with women and children in households at the bottom of the income distribution incurring the greatest

proportionate losses. Those who are already disadvantaged and in need of support are also being disproportionately affected by changes to the conditionality regime; there’s some evidence, for example, that people with mental health problems are falling foul of the sanctions regime more than their numbers would suggest. Advice and support agencies are reporting that unprecedented numbers of people who rely on support are going without food, and heating. Equally concerning, we’re hearing reports of people left suffering from stress and ill-health due to assessment and compliance processes, or existing conditions being exacerbated.

The SNP will continue to oppose vigorously cuts to child tax credits that will simply push more children into poverty. We look forward to working with others to build progressive alternatives to an austerity programme that increases

inequality and poverty.The Scotland Bill has so far failed to

live up to the spirit and substance of the Smith Commission in its current form. Groups from across civic Scotland have called for the UK Government to deliver the powers Scotland was promised – front-line organisations which see �rst-hand the often devastating impact of the Tory’s welfare cuts.

So it is time for the UK government to make good on their promises. It is not enough to only allow Scotland to make decisions on the edges of a social security system that has been brought to its knees by Tory cuts. We need full powers over the social security system in Holyrood, where we can tailor policy in line with our people’s needs and democratic aspirations.

The SNP will seek to amend the Scotland Bill to deliver additional welfare powers to Scotland. My hope is that under its new leadership, Labour will back the SNP’s plans – or they will have to look people in Scotland in the eye and explain why they would rather the Tories were making these decisions for us.

We need full powers over the social security system in Holyrood, where we can tailor policy in line with our people’s needs and democratic aspirations

Dr Eilidh Whiteford is SNP MP for Banff and Buchan and Spokesperson for Social Justice and Welfare

As the welfare system is brought to its knees, Scotland must be given the powers to deliver a fairer deal, says Eilidh Whiteford

Anti-social behaviour

26 Whiteford.indd 26 06/10/2015 17:41:57


The Trade Union Bill arrives at a moment when the Government’s attitude towards civil liberties and human rights can tested to its fullest. As someone who was a

Trade Union activist for 20 years prior to my election, a fact I am unashamed of, I take the view that the bill is unnecessary, and has no concept of industrial and workplace relations in the 21st century.

The Bill is designed to frustrate the basic human right of withdrawing one’s labour to pursue a better outcome for workers. The increase in notice periods interferes with that right.

Now that redundancy periods have been reduced to 45 days the proposed increased notice periods for industrial action interfere with the basic right to strike. Introducing agency workers to break up strikes is a fundamental attack on civil liberty, and is not supported by those employing agency workers themselves.

Perhaps more dangerously, the new picketing proposals can only lead to more blacklisting and increase those who �nd themselves on a blacklist. We must now build a mass campaign to defeat this bill.

The bill is not just an attack on trade unions, but an attack on the largest group in society who stand up against exploitation. It is a timely reminder that the Tories still fear the trade union and labour movement, and a reminder that they know they can be

We must build a mass campaign to defeat this attack on workers’ human rights, says Chris Stephens

Kill this Billdefeated. It is a human rights issue and the campaign against the bill must be framed not just on the obvious workplace issues, but the fundamental breach of human rights, as is the case in other parts of the world.

The campaign to defeat it must be built on a narrative. A narrative that focuses on the bill’s attack on working people, and one that keeps trade union members and their families to the fore. A narrative that focuses on defeating the depiction of trade union power brokers and the implication that we are the undemocratic ones. It will require a broad based campaign focused on the scant support the legislation has across the UK.

Now more than ever is a time for working together and resisting an attack designed to destroy the trade union movement. Playing the “I am more authentic trade unionist and socialist” only plays into the hands of our attackers. Neither can we

have this conversation among ourselves, and by linking it to Tory attacks on human rights presents the real possibility that their incoherent approach to legislation will come under the most severe scrutiny.

The trade union movement provided me and other MPs with an education and the con�dence to stand for election. Trade unions are the largest part of civic society and should be encouraged to participate in the decision making of the country at large. They have a better understanding on what takes place in our communities than many other organisations.

I will be playing my part by scrutinising every line, dot and comma, and working with anyone who opposes this �awed and undemocratic piece of legislation. Workers deserve better protection in today’s world, and so trade unions.

Chris Stephens is SNP MP for Glasgow South West

This bill is a timely reminder that the Tories still fear the trade union and labour movement, and a reminder that they know they can be defeated

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27 stephens.indd 27 06/10/2015 18:08:35


A recent interview with the newly elected Ochil and South Perthshire MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh lead with the headline ‘The SNP has a right

wing – and here she is’. It is a title Ahmed-Sheikh hotly disputes and immediately asked to be changed; justi�ably so. Her history – personally and politically – makes it all too easy to pigeonhole her, but in reality the cap just doesn’t �t.

Now the SNP’s Trade and Investment Spokesperson, Ahmed-Sheikh was born

joined the Labour party in the 1990s, prompting her to be labelled a “political butter�y” by the press. Her take on that is straightforward: “I don’t think we need to talk about things that are 15 years old.”

It is true that this narrowly drawn narrative does not re�ect the current politician, or condone a simplistic right wing characterisation of her. “It’s important to remember that in my constituency one in four children are living in poverty and it is quite simply unacceptable,” she states. “I will be a strong voice to make sure that simply cannot continue.”

Ahmed-Sheikh is clearly committed to causes and progress, over ideology and tribalism. Promoting Scotland, equality and growth whilst opposing austerity is what motivates her, and she is generous in her approach to other parties.

“We will work with any party that is prepared to �ght the Government on important issues,” she says, in reference to Jeremy Corbyn’s olive branch over Trident.

Although she is quick to point out the inconsistency of the party’s message, with Labour’s leader in Scotland Kezia Dugdale taking a different view on the nuclear deterrent. This incoherent policy stance and in�ghting could make it dif�cult to work with them, she suggests, but adds: “I will leave that to Labour to sort out.”

With a change of direction under Corbyn many commentators have wondered if this could also change the party’s fortunes north of the border. The trust that was lost over years of centrist administrations of Westminster elites could now be regained and threaten the SNP’s newly won dominance. Ahmed-Sheikh dismisses the notion, pointing to Scottish independence as the driving force behind the seismic shift in opinion.

It “invigorated politics in Scotland,” she says, and won the loyalty of a new generation of party members.

This issue unites not just the Scottish electorate, she adds, but the party itself whose MPs may have wideranging views

in Chelsea and studied law at Edinburgh University. She successfully pursued a career in acting before entering the legal profession, although her political inclinations surfaced much earlier; she had been an active Conservative Party supporter from the age of ten. After two decades as a Tory, during which time she was put forward as the progressive face of Conservative politics in Scotland, Ahmed-Sheikh switched allegiance to the SNP in 2000.

It later emerged that she had also brie�y

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She’s been labelled the ‘SNP’s right wing’,

but Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh is proving to be

anything but a conservative. The Ochil and

South Perthshire MP talks to Elizabeth Bates

Sheikh offit

28-29 Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh.indd 28 06/10/2015 16:51:56


and backgrounds, but will always “put Scotland �rst.”

It is Ahmed-Sheikh’s background that has made her an inevitable poster girl for diversity, being Scotland’s �rst Asian, female MP. But it is something she enthusiastically embraces and actively champions as the party’s national women’s of�cer.

The SNP has “come a long way,” she says. “When Alex [Salmond] was leader he said he wanted 40% of his cabinet to be women, then Nicola [Sturgeon] took over and swiftly moved to 50%. Now that’s very important.”

As a mother of four children, three of whom are girls, she considers it necessary to “send a very strong message,” on equality. “We can’t be complacent about the fact that we are striving for equality and that should be delivered. The point to get across… is that nobody is looking for a leg up, we are just looking for equality, that’s all.”

This dedication has not always extended to all-women shortlists though, which are an initiative that she has opposed in the past.

Her stance appears to have evolved, however, since new rules were adopted by the SNP at their spring conference, which will likely see the policy come into force.

Explaining the process, she says: “My party is a democracy and takes decisions at conference… We discussed all women shortlists in seats where incumbents were resigning, and we agreed at conference by a vote that we would have all-women shortlists, and that was to ensure that particularly where women were retiring,

they were replaced by women.” Having won her seat without the

advantage of positive discrimination, Ahmed- Sheikh is clearly determined, but is she ambitious?

“Ambition is something that I teach my children to have,” she says. “I am very ambitious for Scotland and I think that the people of Scotland have a real ambition for themselves regardless of what their political views are, and that is something we should embrace.”

Political butter�y or not, Scottish voters have embraced her, and four months into her new role she is certainly having an effect.

“We can’t be complacent about striving for gender equality. Nobody is looking for a leg up; we are just looking for equality”

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THE WEBSITE IS A PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN:

Arts Council of EnglandBritish Council British Fashion CouncilBritish Film CommissionBritish Film Institute (BFI)Crafts Council Creative EnglandCreative Industries Council (CIC)

Creative Skillset (Creative and Cultural Skills)Department for Culture,Media & Sport (DCMS) Design Council Great Britain CampaignInnovate UKInstitute of Practitioners In Advertising (IPA)

Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) NESTAPACTThe Publishers’ AssociationUKIE UK MusicUK Trade & Investment (UKTI)

28-29 Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh.indd 29 06/10/2015 16:51:56


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The UK government’s current legislative programme constitutes an unprecedented attack on human rights. The attack extends beyond the threatened repeal of the

Human Rights Act (HRA) and withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to include aspects of other proposed legislation.

Whilst the SNP scored an early victory in the new parliament by being instrumental in the government’s climb-down from it’s plan to include a Bill repealing the HRA in the Queen’s speech, the issue is still very much on the agenda. I understand that the soon to be published consultation document will put all options on the table including withdrawal from the ECHR. Indeed, when Justice Secretary, Michael Gove gave evidence to the Justice Committee in July, he said he could not guarantee that the UK would remain a party

to the Convention. Just as alarmingly, in a reply to a

question from me at Justice Questions on 8 September, his junior minister, Dominic Raab, refused to con� rm that the proposed Bill of Rights will grant all those living in the UK the same level of protection. Nor would he deny that there will be different levels of rights protection dependent upon whether a person is a UK citizen, an EU citizen or a non-EU citizen.

The UK government also persists in its mistaken insistence that Human Rights are a reserved matter under the devolution settlement and that therefore the Sewel Convention does not apply and they need not consult the Scottish parliament before legislating in this � eld. Such an approach does not take proper cognisance of the full

terms of the Scotland Act 1998 and, in particular, section 29(2) and Schedules 4 and 5.

The Trade Union Bill represents a fundamental attack on trade union members’ rights to freedom of association and assembly. Trade unions play an important role in promoting social justice

and improving employment conditions and practices. It is very dif� cult for employees as individuals to take legal action against employers. They have to pay substantial fees to lodge a claim with the Employment

Tribunal and to have their case heard. Legal aid is not routinely available for those who wish to seek advice on employment rights. It is therefore all the more important that employees are able to take collective action to require their employers to respect workplace rights.

The Immigration Bill will remove the right to remain in the UK from all immigrants appealing immigration decisions on human rights grounds. This will affect appeals brought under Article 8 and will separate families.

There is also good reason to fear that the draft Investigatory Powers Bill will not follow the recommendations of David Anderson QC, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, given the lukewarm response from the Home Secretary to his report. He said that any new legislation in this � eld should comply with international human rights standards and be subject to visible and demanding safeguards re� ecting the central importance of both the ECHR and the HRA. It remains to be seen if it will.

The Scottish Government’s commitment to human rights was reiterated in a recent speech by the First Minister. SNP MPs will continue to lead opposition to the UK government’s attacks on human rights at Westminster.

The Trade Union Bill represents a fundamental attack on trade union members’ rights to freedom of association and assembly

Joanna Cherry QC is SNP MP for Edinburgh South West and spokesperson on Justice and Home Affairs

The SNP will lead the fi ght against this government’s alarming attacks on our rights, says Joanna Cherry

Here,

Now

Rights

Rights Demonstrators protest against the Trade Union Bill in August this year

30 Cherry.indd 30 06/10/2015 16:52:38


As the MP for one of half of the Energy Capital of Europe I know just how important the Oil and Gas sector is not only to my constituents, but for

everyone living across this city and these isles. With some 375,000 people across

the UK employed in the industry and more than £330bn in tax revenues already collected by HM Treasury, it is absolutely vital that we do everything in our power to support those companies who operate in the North Sea.

It is for this reason that I, both in my role as SNP Shadow Group Leader on Energy and Climate Change and the MP for Aberdeen South, have called on the current UK Government to introduce incentives for exploration. By doing so, the Government will encourage production in new hard to reach �elds and lengthen the life of existing �elds. Perhaps most important of all, a decision of this nature would emphasise our faith in the industry.

Given the challenging period which

those in the sector have faced, this show of faith cannot be undervalued. Dif�cult decisions around cost cutting have rightly dominated the headlines in recent times but there is no doubt that with the right support the North Sea does have a bright future ahead of it.

However, for this future to be realised we require political will and during his 2015 budget the Chancellor did not go far enough.

In their recent Economic Report Oil and Gas UK highlighted that investment in new oil and gas developments

will average £3-4bn in 2016 and 2017. This is a considerable decrease from the £10bn that was invested between 2011 and 2013. New investment in the industry is vital to enable growth, stability and to give the industry the opportunity to continue its healthy contribution to the UK economy.

The report also detailed that there were just 14 exploration wells drilled in 2014, in comparison to 28 new wells in 2010. Those involved in Oil and Gas are working extremely hard in dif�cult conditions to ensure the longevity of the industry and the UK Government must change its stance and introduce incentives that will relieve cash constraints and increase exploration in our waters. Indeed, with exploration drilling falling to its lowest since 1965, the UK government must alter its stance, and now.

By embracing change during a dif�cult period the industry has shown that it is willing to play its part in securing its own future. It is now time for the UK Government to do likewise by encouraging further exploration in our waters.

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New investment in the industry is vital to enable growth, stability and to give the industry the opportunity to continue its healthy contribution to the UK economy

Callum McCaig is the SNP MP for Aberdeen South and Spokesperson for Energy and Climate Change

The oil and gas industry has shown it is willing to invest. Now the government must play its part too, writes Callum McCaig

Energy Boost

31 McCaig.indd 31 06/10/2015 16:53:04


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There is huge satisfaction in representing a rural constituency, and I’m blessed to be MP for a seat that is one of the biggest and most diverse in the country. It’s also

one where farming continues to be of huge importance.

A productive agricultural sector is important to us all – there is something elemental about a nation feeding itself – but for those involved, it can be a tough way to make a living.

Total income from farming north of the border was estimated at £688 million last year – down £135 million on 2013. This fall has come largely from lower prices, particularly in cereals. The result was that one in �ve businesses made a loss.

As the SNP’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs lead spokesperson at Westminster, I’m determined to work with Richard Lochhead, the Scottish government cabinet secretary in this area, to provide as much support as possible to our farming communities.

There is a lot of work to be done. A wet summer has caused major problems and, of course, the dairy sector is suffering badly because of well-publicised failures in the supply chain. Farmers are being forced to sell their milk for less than the cost of production, and the Scottish national herd has fallen to less than 1000.

I’ve been pushing for action from the UK government, including much better promotion of the Scottish dairy brand and assistance with �nding new export markets. Another important step would be to broaden the remit of the retail prices watchdog, the Groceries Code Adjudicator, to allow it to better protect primary producers. This would provide better market leverage and more comfort for the dairy sector.

Scottish farmers are being squeezed by falling prices – and a raw deal from Westminster, says Calum Kerr

lifeCountry

32-33 Kerr.indd 32 06/10/2015 17:47:43


Farmers are being forced to sell their milk for less than the cost of production, and the Scottish national herd has fallen to less than 1000

Calum Kerr is SNP MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk and spokesperson for environment and rural affairs

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There are other issues, too. Support payments under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy are incredibly important to Scottish farmers – many couldn’t survive without them. But the UK government has failed to negotiate hard enough for Scotland in Brussels, so we currently have some of the

lowest CAP allocations in Europe.In order to correct this, a special payment

to our farmers called a Convergence Uplift was paid by the EU, but DEFRA has distributed it across the whole of the UK instead. This is entirely unacceptable, though I have managed to secure an

assurance from ministers that there will be a review of this.

Another huge threat on the horizon is the forthcoming referendum on the UK’s membership of Europe. If we vote to leave, then we need to know details of the government’s plans for a replacement for CAP. So far, we simply haven’t seen enough to be reassured.

As an opposition spokesperson, my role is to hold the Conservative government at Westminster to account, and there is always going to be a heavy workload in that regard. Progress can feel slow sometimes, and there can be a frustrating lack of clarity in replies to written and oral questions. But I won’t stop working for the best possible deal for our rural sector – that is, after all, the very least it deserves.

32-33 Kerr.indd 33 06/10/2015 17:47:44


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North and south of the border, the NHS faces clinical challenges, with increasing demand, more complex patients and a lack of doctors

to �ll many posts. However, at the recent ‘Doctors for the NHS’ conference, doctors spoke with despair and anger at the undermining of the NHS in England. Many were envious of the fact that, in Scotland, we retain a uni�ed, public NHS rather than one where ‘the market’ is becoming the main driver instead of patient care. One doctor explained to me how an outreach program in England to support more patients in the community was abandoned by the hospital as fewer admissions meant a lower income!

Doctors were also angry at how the UK government is imposing contract changes on staff, particularly junior doctors, which contrasts with the more collaborative approach taken by the Scottish government to strengthening emergency care.

The Health and Social Care Act (HSCA) took away Strategic Health Authorities in England and replaced them with smaller Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).

GPs now form the majority on only 29% of CCG Boards.

Throughout my career, the NHS has been working to eliminate postcode prescribing of treatment, and yet this is enshrined by the CCG structure, which promotes variation of provision. One example is cataract surgery, where some CCGs are only funding surgery to one eye. While the patient may have sight, they have no depth perception and are at risk of a fall and resultant hip fracture – hardly cost effective in a comprehensive system. Notably, the patient can stump up £800 to have the other eye done!

We are constantly told that a tax-funded, comprehensive NHS is unaffordable and

unsustainable, yet the traditional UK model of the NHS (prior to April 2013) was shown by the Commonwealth Fund to be the most cost effective healthcare system. It came top in 8 out of 11 quality measures, yet was the second cheapest in the developed world.

The UK government is unwilling to admit that the enormous administrative costs of a competitive healthcare market removes money from frontline services to be spent on the tendering process introduced by the HSCA.

This has resulted in the dramatic collapse of Trust �nances. In 2014/2015, almost half of all Trusts were in de�cit, totalling over £800million, and the predictions are that 80% of Trusts will be in the red by next April, with the de�cit reaching £2bn.

In Scotland, our NHS is separate but, unfortunately, we do not control our own purse strings. Our budget is set by decisions made about NHS England. If the NHS in England becomes a healthcare market, with charges and private insurance, funding will not be sent to Scotland every year to allow us to keep our NHS public.

Most patients will still have a really good experience of the NHS in England, because care is delivered by dedicated staff who believe in what they do and are paddling faster below the surface to maintain high standards.

The analogy was made at the conference that the NHS is like a huge tree with someone digging away underneath and hacking through the roots. It is quite some time before death is visible in the foliage, but there comes a point when the tree simply falls.

So we need to support those in England who are �ghting NHS fragmentation and privatisation. We must help them reverse the changes before the tipping point is reached and it becomes too hard to return to the traditional philosophy that has served us so well for nearly seven decades.

The UK government is unwilling to admit that the enormous administrative costs of a competitive healthcare market removes money from frontline services

Dr Philippa Whitford is SNP MP for Central Ayrshire and spokesperson for health

We need to support the fight for the NHS in England in order to preserve it in Scotland, says Philippa Whitford

outlookUnhealthy

34 Whitford.indd 34 06/10/2015 17:48:06

This forward-looking partnership is working together to raise the profile of the important issues within the health and social care sector at Party Conference 2015. The Forum aims to share thought-provoking insights while also shaping the future of the debate.

Health & Care DebateThursday 15 October 12:30 – 13:30Balmoral Suite, AECC

Special guest speaker: Shona Robison MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport

Health & Care Forum ReceptionThursday 15 October17:00 – 18:00Rooms 15/16, AECC

Special guest speaker: Maureen Watt MSP, Minister for Public Health

Join the conversation @HC_Forum For more information please email [email protected]

health and care.indd 1 07/10/2015 14:48:16


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“What A-levels did you sit?” Not an uncommon question for anyone who has come through the

Scottish education system. But of course, it is a poorly worded enquiry, because the majority of Scottish students have never, and will never, sit an A-level. Despite this, there are similar challenges north and south of the border: the evolving curricula require the skill and cooperation of chalkface staff to ensure successful implementation, but it is these very staff who feel the pressure when faced with the implementation of a new system.

Scotland’s quali� cations have seen many changes over the years, from minor rebranding to complete overhauls, like the new Curriculum for Excellence, which has seen the � rst students presented for Higher exams this summer. This new curriculum consists of a comprehensive list of experiences and outcomes through which children progress from age 3 to 18. These experiences can at times seem frustratingly vague, but that is the crux of this programme. This apparent lack of detail allows pupils and staff to work through the outcomes with much less constraint than in the past, enabling deeper exploration of areas of interest. The drive in this new era

is not for bof� n-like students to rhyme off equations, dates and formulae but for our young people to be empowered and equipped with skills such as analysis, communication and problem solving – the employability skills for which businesses are crying out.

Most of my 20 years as a Glasgow physics teacher have been proudly spent in comprehensive schools, a route I have now chosen for my three children. Comprehensive education is special. It allows children to mix with those from different backgrounds, religions and ethnicities and to experience diversity in all its splendid forms. Education is without doubt the best way for a child from an impoverished background to change their life chances. But it is no coincidence that, as austerity bites, those children who will be most affected are those who have the greatest need of a good start. And therefore it is more important than ever that legislators are supporting frontline staff who are struggling to cope with many and varied needs in one room at one time. Imagine a lawyer being presented with 30 clients at once, all of who need different help, and one starts to understand the challenges of modern teaching.

Shortages of quali� ed staff in key areas such as STEM subjects should alert governments and the general public to the

deepening crisis in education. With physics and maths so crucial to the economy, how do we persuade someone with such a degree to abandon a large � ve or six-� gure job and join the ranks of teachers? The � rst and most

important step must be a change in attitude towards the battling teaching profession. We must appreciate the demoralising impact of language such as ‘failing schools’ and ‘poor teaching’. A serious charm offensive is required both to recruit and retain

staff. No, it’s not ‘an easy wee number’, yes, they do deserve another holiday, and no, not everyone has the ability to teach.

Teaching remains a vocation for many staff and, as legislators, we need to ensure that teachers are supported to ful� l this calling. Teaching in a comprehensive school is without doubt an exhausting challenge, but it is never dull. As a student teacher in an inner-city comprehensive in Glasgow, I remember a visit from my university tutor. As I dismissed the class following the tutor’s observation of my teaching, one of the boys asked me how it had gone. “I think it was okay”, I replied, “I’m just about to � nd out.”

“Well, Miss”, he said with sinister loyalty, “I know which car is his.”

Comprehensive education is special. It allows children to experience diversity in all its splendid forms

Carol Monaghan is SNP MP for Glasgow North West and spokesperson for public services and education

After years of criticism, a serious charm offensive is required to recruit and retain teachers, says Carol Monaghan

Tales the

chalkface from

Nicola Sturgeon on a visit to Craigentinny Primary School in Edinburgh

36 Monaghan.indd 36 06/10/2015 17:48:38

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pol home.indd 1 08/10/2015 13:48:08

www.calor.co.uk/lpg-autogas

Harmful emissions would be reduced significantlySubstituting existing old diesel cars with LPG vehicles would achieve:

The refuelling infrastructure is already in placeand can be expanded at no cost to the UK taxpayer

What should the Government do?

Health benefits for the UK populationOn a high uptake model by 2029:

Running an LPG car is far cheaper for consumersand the cost of converting is paid back in about 2 years

90%

Less PMwhich causes lung damage

94%

Less NOxwhich depletes the ozone

16%

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Support vehicle conversions to encourage the development of LPG vehicles direct from manufacturers

Remove the fuel duty escalator on LPG

Promote LPG at a national and local level for public sector fleets

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calor.indd 1 06/10/2015 17:12:00


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The key challenge of the transport agenda for the coming decade is how to make the transition to new major infrastructure developments and new

technology at the same time.Planning is often based around current

technologies, rather than those that are emerging, and this poses almost immediate problems of obsolescence.

A lack of understanding, knowledge and a tendency to rely on the expertise of those who are only invested in the short term leads to decisions that can be seen as ‘safe’ but are actually likely to store up problems for future development.

There are dozens of examples of this, but the best has to be the decision by the UK government in the 1960s to cut the railways under Dr Beeching. His imperative was to save money and make “an ef�cient railway”, rather than a railway that would have positive outcomes for people and communities. As an exercise in reducing spending, it was a triumph. However, it left a legacy of communities cut adrift and is now widely – and rightly, in my view – regarded as short-sighted at best.

Planning for future transport development should be about building a project plan that has at least taken into account its immediate and intermediate effects, as well as the likely requirements of the people who will have to use and, sometimes, endure it. It

To solve our transport problems we must abandon short-term thinking and look further down the line, writes Drew Hendry

Route

should be focused on the outcomes for the people it serves, rather than on a current (often budget-based) imperative like the one delivered by Beeching.

That rail decision left a legacy of reliance on our roads but, again, knowing the cost of things did not help to prepare for the future. For a while, most roads were good or acceptable, and running a car or getting a bus was pretty easy, but it was not destined

to last. Today, especially in peripheral areas, getting a bus can be challenging, if not impossible. In every part of the UK, failure to provide adequate funding for road maintenance has left the infrastructure in wearying decline, and running a car is less and less affordable or attractive.

It’s left us with another legacy that will take some considerable time to change. We are largely reliant on road haulage. Most people accept that transport will, again, go through a change. We are already

seeing driverless technology being tested, on the move electric vehicle charging, and a public desire for more cycling access – but there is also a need to consider the movement of goods.

A major shift is underway in logistics, but how much consideration is being given to real needs or, vitally, how we make the transition from road to greater rail and sea freight? Logistics companies are making the point that HS2, for example, is not taking nearly enough account of the opportunity for freight hubs, and that port development is being left behind by other European nations. In the meantime, there is a looming crisis in the road haulage industry, with little support for new entrants, high examination and training costs, and all this with the average age of drivers now 49 years old.

The biggest transport challenge is political. There is a need to stop the old Westminster thinking of four or �ve-year electoral cycles and think about longer term outcomes for people beyond 10, 20 or 30 years, and to review these with each subsequent major decision. A bigger plan is needed to project a longer vision.

Drew Hendry is SNP MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey and spokesperson for transport

planner

The biggest transport challenge is political. There is a need to stop the old Westminster thinking of four or five-year electoral cycles

39 Hendry.indd 39 06/10/2015 17:49:07

Scotland’s railway is booming – in the last nine years, the number of miles travelled by passengers on the nation’s

network has increased by almost a quarter.

Last month saw the opening of the new Borders Railway, restoring passenger rail services from Edinburgh through Midlothian to Tweedbank for the first time in more than 40 years. Improvements

Raila better future for Scotland

being delivered under the new ScotRail franchise include 80 new trains by the end of 2017, free Wi-Fi in every carriage and fares for standard class travel between any two Scottish cities starting at £5. The renaissance underway on Scotland’s rail network mirrors that seen in the rest of Great Britain, where passenger numbers have doubled in less than

20 years. Whereas in 1997-98, the first full year of passenger rail franchising, the network ran at a £2billion a year loss, in terms of its day-to-day costs, it now covers its running expenses. With almost six times more money being paid back to government by train operators for rail investment, government funding can instead be focussed on building a bigger, better railway. Such significant investment is good not only for passengers but for the economy too. Employing 216,000 people, the rail industry and its supply chain contribute up to £10.1billion a year in added value. By being a safer, greener mode of transport, rail prevents up to 865 serious injuries or fatalities a year and reduces Britain’s carbon emissions by 7.7million tonnes. Nevertheless, while massive strides have been made in the quality and safety of train services and the rail industry is working together more effectively to run and improve the railway, there is more to do.

RDG - DPS.indd 2 08/10/2015 13:16:46

It is important to build even greater levels of trust among the public and everyone who uses the railway. Passengers and freight customers need greater confi dence that trains will arrive on time and that they are getting the best value for money. They need to trust that they are getting the most accurate information and that work on the railway is being planned well and to minimise disruption. People, whether they use the railway or not, expect the industry to be innovative and forward looking, playing its part in supporting the nation. Projects like the £742million Scottish Government funded Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Project, delivering faster, greener and longer trains between Scotland’s two biggest cities are key. Improvements like the £3million upgrade to Stirling station and the £1.6million being invested to provide more cycle parking spaces at rail stations will help. To overcome the challenges the rail industry faces we must work ever

Britain's Future, Britain's Railway

While the size of the network has hardly changed over two decades, services have risen by 28%

28%

We aim to improve satisfaction among our customers to 90%

more closely with Scottish political leaders and other stakeholders. By doing so, we can deliver the better services, better journeys and better value for money that passengers, freight customers and the country need.

1.4 billion journeys are completed punctually each year600 million more than 15 years ago

Passenger numbers are set to double in the next 30 years

Rail Industry ReceptionThursday, 15 October, 201518:30 to 19:30Room 10Aberdeen Exhibitionand Conference Centre

RDG - DPS.indd 3 08/10/2015 13:16:49


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Within the next few months the UK parliament will be asked to decide whether or not to commit to renewing the Trident missile system.

The vote, which is likely to take place in the spring of 2016 will be big news. And so it should be; it’s not every day a country caught in the grip of austerity can magic-up £100,000,000,000 to buy a weapons system capable of destroying the planet.

I have long argued that there is no moral or economic case for Trident. And as much as I have suspected it to be so, I can now of� cially add that in my experience as SNP Defence Spokesperson, there is absolutely no military case for Trident…because Trident is not a military weapon. It is a political

We can no longer sacrifi ce 1/4 of the MoD budget to a political ego trip that’s about prestige not protection, says Brendan O’Hara

about truth

Trident

The

weapon; one that can never and will never be used and one whose sole function is to keep the United Kingdom at the top table of the United Nations Security Council.

A full 25% of the UK defence budget is being sacri� ced to a political ego trip that has more to do with prestige than it does protection.

Even former Prime Minister Tony Blair acknowledged in his memoirs, when talking about Trident he admitted that the expense was huge, the military utility was non-existent but that he chose to proceed as scrapping Trident was “too big a downgrade of our status as a nation”.

So there you have it, at last, the truth from Mr. Blair. The United Kingdom’s obsession with having a nuclear deterrent is little more than a former world power indulging in a desperate search for a better yesterday.

Trident is militarily useless because strategists recognise that the world is changing very quickly and so too are the nature of the threats we face.

42-43 Ohara.indd 42 06/10/2015 17:45:50


For centuries, everyone has understood that our traditional enemy could be easily identi�ed as a rival country; one armed with tanks and aircraft and deploying soldiers in uniform.

With a rapidly growing and increasingly mobile global population however, our notion of what constitutes a nation state will become increasingly challenged and imprecise and many traditional international borders will simply disappear under the weight of mass migration as people move in search of resources and a better life.

In this fast changing world, in which traditional models of nationhood are

becoming blurred, it’s almost certain that our enemy will be �ghting an ideological war in which terrorism will be among their main weapons. They will certainly not be wearing a uniform and are unlikely to be armed with tanks and aircraft. And in a world where 70% of the population will be urban dwelling, many in emerging mega-cities, it’s conceivable that those we regard as our enemy may well living beside but be totally indistinguishable from those who we regard as our allies.

Yet, at a time when we need to prepare for these new challenges and invest in our conventional defences and train our forces to understand and prepare for this new situation, the UK government is planning to spend £100bn on a nuclear vanity project with absolutely no relevance to the changing requirements of defence and security in the 21st century.

Trident is not a military weapon. It is a political weapon, whose sole function is to keep the UK at the top table of the UN

Brendan O’Hara is SNP MP for Argyll and Bute and Spokesperson for Defence

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42-43 Ohara.indd 43 06/10/2015 17:45:52


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The new Global Goals for Sustainable Development are described by the United Nations as “a plan of action for people, the planet and prosperity”—in other

words, an agenda aimed at nothing short of transforming the world we live in.

The new agreement, signed by world leaders in New York at the end of September, establishes 17 goals and 169 targets, designed ultimately “to free the human race from the tyranny of poverty and want and to heal and secure our planet.” The goals include commitments to end hunger, promote gender equality, and protect our land and marine environments.

The agreement is a successor to the Millennium Development Goals, signed in 2000 with a genuine sense of optimism and hope that they could be achieved by this year. Signi�cant progress has been made, not least as a result of pressure applied during the Make Poverty History campaign 10 years ago. But while nearly a billion people – one in seven – live below the poverty line of $1.25 a day, much more remains to be done.

The UK Government talks the talk on aid. But question marks remain over how it plans to spend the money, writes Patrick Grady

One of the most important aspects of the goals is their universality: the agreement calls on all governments to achieve the goals everywhere. That means a commitment to ending poverty here at home as well as in what are traditionally thought of as ‘poor countries’. And the goals recognise that an end to poverty can only be achieved if we also tackle the causes and effects of climate change. So they truly are ‘global goals’ – protecting people and the planet, at home and abroad.

The challenge now is whether we can live up to the scale of the ambition.

In Scotland, we are already starting to play our part in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals. In July, the First Minister announced that the Scottish Government would adopt them in full, and work towards implementing them around the world and at home. And for nearly two years already, there has been a Working Group convened by the Scottish Government looking at how Scotland can contribute to the goals. Before the election, I was a member of that group in my capacity as vice-chair of the Network of International

Development Organisations in Scotland, alongside other representatives from across civil society, academia and business and other stakeholders, including of�cials from the UK Department for International Development.

The UK Government has become one of the �rst G8 countries to meet the long-held target of spending 0.7% of national income on overseas aid. This is a good �rst step to making sure the funds are available to meet the goals. Questions remain, however, over exactly how the Conservatives plan to spend this money, with David Cameron suggesting that aid must work “in the national interest”, while most people would expect aid to meet humanitarian need irrespective of political considerations.

The SNP, as the third party in Westminster, will be keeping a close eye on effective use of the UK’s international aid. And at a Scottish Government level, we’ll continue to make sure Scotland plays its part as a good global citizen.

Patrick Grady is SNP MP for Glasgow North and spokesperson for International Development

The bestaid plans

The SNP, as the third party in Westminster, will be keeping a close eye on effective use of the UK’s international aid

44 grady.indd 44 06/10/2015 16:57:05


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Cunninghame Graham declared himself a new-fangled (and bearded) socialist – the fi rst such elected to Westminster

While the more myopic parts of the metropolitan media have treated the in� ux of 56 SNP members to the Commons as an

exotic novelty, advocates of Scottish self-government have been vocal in the Palace of Westminster for a very long time.

In 1713 – a scant six years after the Act of Union – most of the 45 MPs and 16 Peers now representing Scotland at Westminster met in the notorious Blue Posts Tavern in the Haymarket, to discuss a return to Scottish independence. Their animus: anger at the extension of the tax on malt (for whisky making) to Scotland contrary to Article 14 of the Articles of Union. A Union repeal bill was duly moved in the Lords, on 1 June 1713, by James Ogilvy, the Earl of Sea� eld. Ogilvy was originally one of the most active supporters of the merger with England. But not for the last time, uppity

The SNP has been making its voice heard in

Westminster long before ‘The 56’ arrived this

summer. East Lothian MP George Kerevan

looks back on the history of the movement

SNPInventing

the

Scots found themselves outvoted.Self-government returned to the

Westminster agenda in in 1886, with the creation of the Scottish Home Rule Association (SHRA), a month after Gladstone introduced the � rst Irish Home Rule Bill. The moving spirit behind the SHRA was Robert Cunninghame Graham (1852–1936), arguably the most colourful � gure to enter the Commons in the past 200 years. He has the distinction of being not only a founder and � rst president of the Scottish Labour Party but later also a founder and � rst president of the SNP (in 1934). This

is a political journey made by a number of the SNP’s current intake of MPs.

Cunninghame Graham MP rode the Argentine pampas as a gaucho,

explored North Africa disguised as a sheikh, crossed the American west with his bride in a wagon train, and counted Buffalo Bill as a friend. He was � rst elected to the

Robert Cunninghame GrahamAbove: A triumphant Winnie Ewing arrives at King Cross, London, in 1967 after becoming the fi rst SNP MP for 22 years

45-46 Kerevan.indd 45 06/10/2015 16:59:17


Commons in 1886 as Liberal member for North West Lanarkshire. But in his election address, Cunninghame Graham declared himself a new-fangled (and bearded) socialist – the � rst such elected to Westminster. His radical platform included Scottish Home Rule, female suffrage, and the abolition of the House of Lords. He was also the � rst MP to be suspended by the Speaker for swearing – his offending word was ‘damn’.

In 1913, a Scottish Home Rule Bill was introduced by William Cowan, then Liberal MP for the old Aberdeenshire East constituency, and now represented by Alex Salmond. (Incidentally, Cowan went on to represent Islington North, now Jeremy Corbyn’s seat.) Cowan’s Bill actually received a successful reading in May 1914 but disappeared into limbo when Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot in Sarajevo the following month.

It would be 1945 before the SNP gained its � rst representation at Westminster in the shape of Robert McIntyre, one of the party’s greats. On 13 April 1945, just prior to the end of World War II, McIntyre won his native Motherwell in a by-election, with a majority of 617 votes over Labour. Such were the volatile politics of the era that

between 1922 and 1945, Motherwell was represented by MPs of four different parties - Conservative, Labour, Communist and SNP.

McIntyre had dif� culty recruiting the customary MP sponsors to allow him to take his seat. Instead, he tried to present himself to the Speaker alone, declaring: “I very clearly stated to the people of Motherwell and Wishaw that I would give no allegiance to the London-controlled parties”.

Eventually he accepted the sponsorship of James Barr and Alexander Sloan “under protest”. McIntyre lost his seat three months later in the 1945 general election. He then returned to his medical practice, working in Stirling Royal In� rmary to treat and prevent TB. However,

he continued to stand in every subsequent general election, till 1974.

Another 22 years passed before the SNP re-entered Westminster, when the party won Hamilton in a by-election on 2 November 1967, with a sensational swing of 46%. The victor was Winnie Ewing, a charismatic, young lawyer. On her election, Ewing famously quipped: “Stop the world, Scotland wants to get on”. As a result of her victory the then Labour Government of Harold Wilson established the Kilbrandon Commission, which opened the door to all

subsequent devolution in the UK.As the lone SNP member, Winnie found

herself without friends at Westminster: “For the most part it was the backbenchers who treated me so badly,” she recalls in her autobiography. But she retained a special warmth for Ted Heath: “He was a shy man for a politician, completely ill at ease with women, but he was always very helpful, and he gave me useful tips about how the Commons worked.”

In 1973, another female Scot Nat took Westminster by storm – the late, great Margo MacDonald, when she won a by-election in Govan. Universally known by her Christian name, Margo would remain a force of nature in Scottish politics for the next 41 years, till her death last year. Though she lost her Westminster seat only 112 days later, at the February 1974 General Election, the SNP were to return seven other MPs and have been a continuing force in the House of Commons ever since. Uniquely, her husband Jim Sillars would later represent the same Govan constituency for the SNP, between 1988 and 1992.

Most unfairly, one name has dimmed from prominence in the SNP’s roll of honour at Westminster: Donald Stewart, MP for the Western Isles from 1970 till 1987. Admired on both sides of the House for his integrity and his courtesy, Donald had the distinction of being the � rst SNP Member ever returned at a general election. He gave the party parliamentary credibility.

The 1987 election at which Donald Stewart retired also saw a certain Alex Salmond returned to the House of Commons. Within a year Salmond achieved parliamentary notoriety by being expelled from the chamber after barracking the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nigel Lawson, during the Budget. A handful of Labour MPs joined SNP members and Welsh Nationalists to vote against Salmond’s suspension. They included a certain Jeremy Corbyn. An early progressive alliance?

On her election, Ewing famously quipped: ‘Stop the world, Scotland wants to get on’

George Kerevan is SNP MP for East Lothian

Scotland’s eleven SNP MPs after the October 1974 election

45-46 Kerevan.indd 46 06/10/2015 16:59:20

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