Whisky, golf and nationalism is a heady blend. But this is what was served up in the White House this week.
John Swinney was on a rare First Ministerial visit to Donald Trump’s Oval Office to plead for a reduction of the 10 per cent import tariff on Scotch Whisky. We’re told the two men also discussed international affairs – notably Gaza. And I’ll bet they mentioned Trump’s great love for his two golf courses in Scotland.
All that was missing was a letter from the King inviting the president to Balmoral. But that trick has already been tried by Keir Starmer, and President and Mrs Trump are to take up that invitation next week at Windsor.
Whisky may be a tourist cliché in Scotland, but it is also a serious business, worth over £1billion to the US economy, at least £6 billion to the UK, and employs 40,000 people. So a 10 per cent tariff on our biggest export market means a loss of £4 million a week. It’s therefore quite a coup for John Swinney to gain an audience with the man who, at a whim, can lift that tariff. And the hope is that will happen next week when Trump is on his state visit.
It’s been pointed out that America will also gain from lifting the tariff because we might buy more of their bourbon casks from Kentucky which are used to mature Scotch Whisky. So “America First” and “Scotland First” come together in a happy nationalist union.
We also had the fun this week of a cabinet re-shuffle at Westminster which has resulted in us having a new “Scottish Secretary” Danny Alexander. In my view, and in the view of many Labour MPs, there was nothing wrong with the old one, Ian Murray. He’d held the fort for Labour in Scotland for almost ten years when there were no other Labour MPs north of the border.
And in fact the whole Starmer re-shuffle puzzles me. Was it really necessary? Angela Raynor’s mistakes were not serious – in fact the inquiry found she’d acted with integrity. All she had to do was repay the tax she owed. Reshuffling cabinet ministers after only a year in office is hardly the sign of a stable government. And if Danny Alexander was so brilliant, why was he not appointed Scottish Secretary in the first place?
The erratic behaviour of the Starmer government is a problem for Labour in Scotland as they prepare for the Scottish elections next spring. It’s already caused them to slump in the opinion polls – down to 20 per cent, equal with Reform. Starmer has sought to make amends with a couple of flying visits to Scotland in recent days to announce defence contracts for shipyards on the Clyde and at Rosyth, building frigates for the Norwegian and Danish navies. There are also hopes the new fleet of jets for the Red Arrows will be built at Prestwick.
But there are larger issues Labour will have to address to restore its electoral fortunes: the economy, the shocking state of the public services and immigration. The SNP maintain that “Tory austerity” is continuing under the Starmer government, starving the NHS, schools, universities and local council services. And I don’t see how Labour are going to stimulate economic growth without spending more on public services and public investment.
On immigration, I’ve been shocked at the demonstrations we’ve seen outside hotels housing refugees and asylum seekers in Perth, Falkirk and Aberdeen. We’ve also seen provocative Saltire and Union Jack flags flown from lamp-posts in Renfewshire and now on the Calder Road in Edinburgh. This is the sort of behaviour I expect in backward parts of England, not Scotland. But with Reform on the rise in Scotland, it’s something we will have to get used to…..and find a solution for.
It’s up to the new UK home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to get a grip on immigration. I might suggest employing more immigration officers to process asylum claims more quickly. She should expand the UK immigration office in France to “stop the boats”. And she should prevent migrant workers and students from bringing their extended families to Britain. But this can’t be done in a fortnight as Nigel Farage promised.
In the face of these big issues, it’s tempting to shrug our shoulders and say it’s useless to have an opinion or take individual action. But the modern parable about starfish on a beach came to my mind this week when thousands of starfish were washed up on the beach at Kirkcaldy on Monday night.
The phenomenon is quite rare but happens when strong currents and high tides coincide. The story is that an old man was walking along a beach with stranded starfish all around him when he saw a boy pick one up and return it to the sea. The old man told the boy individual acts like that are useless and make no difference. But the boy replied: “It made a difference to that one.”
