What next for Scotland? A random scrawl.

Posted on May 21st, 2007 by bryan.
Categories: General.

So Scotland has its fourth First Minister in just eight years. Alex Salmond MSP has been elected by the people of Gordon, nominated by the Scottish Parliament, endorsed by the Prime Minister, appointed by the Queen and sworn in by the Lord President. Now that’s what I call a job interview.

But the tricky part is still to come. He has appointed his Cabinet Secretaries and junior ministers - three fewer than his predecessor and perhaps his first triumph in power. But what will follow in the next 100 days? No doubt lots of talk about the economy, education and health, but will he be able to convert these words into actions? He is leading a minority government in a ‘rainbow parliament’ and, despite promises to put the interests of the Scottish people first, I can’t help but think that the opposition, Prime Minister-elect Gordon Brown (and perhaps even the SNP itself) will continue to take all opportunities to score political points. Nothing ever changes!

So what will we get? Well, the First Minister is playing the patriot card - he wants us to host Euro 2016 and to have our own team for the Olympics. Next thing you know, he will be proposing adopting formally a Scottish ‘anthem’. And in my view, this is exactly what he should be doing - getting the people of Scotland to be proud of their country. We might have had an ‘interesting’ election, but the result remains valid. The people have voted for a nationalist Scotland, so let’s do something about it. And for once, let’s try to be a little optimistic!

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