TWENTY-FIVE years after Scottish devolution, the man expected to return to the SNP leadership after two decades has reflected back on the “changed days.”
John Swinney is expected to be crowned SNP leader and Scotland’s seventh first minister.
Speaking to the Resolution Foundation ahead of taking the reins in a party and government facing its most challenging period in 20 years, Mr Swinney, who has sat in the Scottish Parliament since it was reconvened in 1999, hit out at a new “aggressive” posture towards Holyrood from its Westminster counterparts.
Complaining of a “hostile outlook from the UK government towards devolution,” Mr Swinney said: “For most of the devolution years, the UK government has been a rather benign presence in the operation of the devolved structures. That is different now.
“Should future UK governments take the same attitude, it would pose a real threat to the prospects and effectiveness of devolution.”
But constitutional expert Professor James Mitchell said it was Holyrood’s role as a “power hoarder” which had done most to undermine the cause that delivered devolution in the 1990s.
Prof Mitchell said: “I think one of the saddest things about devolution is the way in which central government, the Scottish government, has accumulated power. It has been a power hoarder. It has absolutely undermined local government.
“I never thought we would be where we are today where we have got a Scottish government that is more centralising, more dictatorial towards local authorities than the Tories.”
Arguing that too many of Holyrood’s 129 MSPs are now ministers to allow for proper scrutiny of government, he said: “God knows what they are all up to, frankly. Because you don’t need that many ministers, there is no doubt at all about that.
“We need stronger committees, we need more committees; and, frankly, the committees have not lived up to the independence that was hoped of them — that members would go in and leave their partisan hats behind. They have become much more partisan.
“I would like to see the resourcing of the committees increased.
“If you look at the size of the Scottish government, but also the officials, they have grown over the course of devolution. But the parliament hasn’t, so there has been something lagging behind in terms of these things.”
