A TOP business editor has called out those who claim Nicola Sturgeon has been “bad for business”.
In a column for The Herald, Ian McConnell has claimed the notion is “bizarre”, criticising the likes of Douglas Ross for amplifying issues such as the delays to new CalMac ferries “to the maximum possible extent”.
He says Ross should've focused more on the devastation caused by Brexit, while complimenting Sturgeon’s “sterling” efforts to mitigate the damage inflicted on Scotland from the country being dragged out of the EU.
While he admits the ferries crisis has been a “lamentable episode” for the SNP, he said it “paled into insignificance” compared to the billions of pounds spent by the Conservative Government in its procurement decisions on personal protective equipment during the pandemic.
McConnnell wrote: “There is no shortage of people who will tell you that Nicola Sturgeon has been bad for business.
“Whatever the reason, it is surely on any rational basis bizarre that the notion that Ms Sturgeon and her administration have been bad for business seems at times almost to have become conventional wisdom, depending on the circles in which you happen to be mixing.
“Yes, there has been the noisy storm over the long delays to the delivery of the ferries for Caledonian MacBrayne being built by Ferguson Marine and a huge cost overrun. This has indeed been a lamentable episode, and one which is not done yet.
“However, Mr Ross and other opposition politicians have ensured this matter has been amplified to the maximum possible extent and, in the goldfish bowl that is Scotland, the matter has surely been subject to much greater magnification than it would have been elsewhere.
“It is also worth noting the cost overruns on the ferries, while in the hundreds of millions of pounds, pale into insignificance relative to the many billions of pounds wasted by the Conservative Government in its procurement decisions on personal protective equipment amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It is perhaps odd that we seem to hear a lot less about this colossal PPE waste than about the ferries. And at least the ferry contract has provided valuable employment in Inverclyde.”
Amid concerns over policies such as the deposit return scheme for plastic bottles, glass and cans, McConnell highlighted how there had been plenty to be positive about in the world of business under Sturgeon.
He added: “One thing you hear mentioned far less often than the ‘bad for business’ or similar opinions from amateur observers is the fact that Scotland has enjoyed buoyant levels of foreign direct investment (FDI).
“And we hear nothing from the doomsayers, politically motivated or otherwise, about Scotland having recently secured a record attractiveness reading from potential future investors.
“You hear a lot of criticisms about education in Scotland but it seems the nation is in fact doing rather well in producing a workforce with skills and capabilities that are in demand from companies around the globe.
“Amid all the carping in the Scottish goldfish bowl, this objective view from overseas companies brings to mind, albeit in an opposite context from usual, the following words from poet Robert Burns: ‘O wad some Power the giftie gie us. To see oursels as ithers see us!’.
“So perhaps Mr Ross and others should reflect on how the nation is viewed by overseas investors staking their money here.”
McConnell added how overseas companies don’t seem to have been put off by the constitutional debate in Scotland.
He cited how EY’s latest annual survey published last May showed Scotland outpaced UK-wide progress on inward investment significantly in 2021.
Projected job numbers from FDI projects secured by Scotland in 2021 totalled in excess of 10,000. This is more than double the corresponding figure of 4500 for 2020.
“This is surely something that should be celebrated by Mr Ross, who delivered a surprisingly ungracious reaction to news of Ms Sturgeon’s departure this week,” said McConnell.
McConnell argued Sturgeon had actually been good for business with her tireless campaigning against Brexit and her “sterling” efforts to try and mitigant the damage caused by it.
“The Conservatives’ hard Brexit has been very bad for business indeed, as any number of experts (as opposed to amateur commentators) would tell you, exacerbating a skills and labour shortage crisis in Scotland and throughout the UK as well as hammering exporters,” McConnell wrote.
“The Brexit damage is something upon which Mr Ross should be focusing, but he has instead favoured whataboutery.
“Ms Sturgeon and her administration have clearly not got everything right when it comes to business and the economy, but they most certainly have been on the money with their anti-Brexit stance. And they have presided over a business environment which overseas investors view as very attractive.”
