THE SNP Trade Union Group (TUG) has said it has concerns about the direction of Kate Forbes’s “economic thinking” as leaders insisted they want an early meeting with whoever wins the SNP contest.
Ten key questions were set out by the group for Humza Yousaf, Forbes and Ash Regan on industrial and related issues.
The group told The National it received a late response from Forbes on Friday - having already got responses from Regan and Yousaf a few days before - but secretary Simon Barrow said her answers were “sometimes difficult to parse” and insisted he had concerns over the “detail and direction of her economic thinking”.
Convener Bill Ramsay said an early meeting with whoever wins the race on Monday will be crucial to discuss major policy issues and ensure the voices of working people are being understood.
Barrow said he welcomed certain commitments from Forbes such as her promise to face down the Tories’ anti-strike bill and pause and rethink the National Care Service.
But he added many of the ideas Forbes talked about did not chime with the group’s values.
Barrow told The National: “The answers we received from Kate were thoughtful and ambitious, but sometimes difficult to parse. We look forward to clarifying more fully what they will mean in practice.
“We certainly welcome commitments to face down UK anti-strike legislation, to engage with STUC’s work on land, tax and assets, to review port governance (including freeports), to pause and rethink the National Care Service, and ‘to develop our global brands and ensure they pay their fair contribution to the land that nurtures them’.
“However, we believe that government must play a key role in developing, safeguarding and innovating Scotland’s future through economic democracy. This means that capital should be subservient to human and environmental priorities, not the other way round. Likewise, workers and trade unions should be central to industrial policy.
“We are not sure how far Kate sees things that way.
“Talk of ‘the limitations of government’, ‘competitive taxes’ and the instinctive fiscal conservatism of the Growth Commission – which we see as ideology rather than common sense – points in a different direction. But we look forward to constructive engagement on such vital strategic questions.”
The 10 questions covered a range of issues about present Scottish and UK Government policy. They included questions on the economy, local government finance, the role of trade unions, industrial disputes, taxing big whisky profits, Scotwind, just transition to renewable energy, and port strategy.
The questions were sent to all three candidates after they had agreed to the special trade union hustings chaired by STUC general secretary Roz Foyer and organised by the SNPTUG in association with The National.
The Finance Secretary is running for first minister on a platform that is more right-leaning than her rivals. However, she has denied that her leadership would represent a shift to the right for the SNP.
Scotland will find out how the new SNP leader is at around 2pm on Monday, with an announcement organised from Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh.
SNP TUG convener Ramsay added: “We will be seeking an early meeting with whoever wins this contest to ensure that the voices, concerns and expertise of working people and their trade unions is understood and valued by the new SNP leader and first minister.”
