As Scottish election looms, John Swinney must resist temptation to rush through bad law

This, he claimed, would provide “hope that we can create a better Scotland”, but critics suggested the focus on ‘delivery’ was actually a tacit admission that the SNP’s track record on this had been poor, to put it mildly.

The ongoing struggles to fix the NHS, dual the A9 and build ferries, coupled with failed attempts to set up a recycling scheme, create highly protected marine areas, meet its carbon emission targets, and, of course, secure an independence referendum all suggest the party finds it difficult to achieve its own goals in government, regardless of whether they are good ones or not.

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One bill every eight days?

So it is perhaps no surprise that concern is growing about the amount of legislation still due to go through the Scottish Parliament before next May, with some opposition MSPs warning there might not be enough time for all the proposed new laws to be properly scrutinised.

In the 52 months of the current parliament, a total of 44 bills have been passed, yet MSPs are expected to process 26 bills, proposed by both the government and MSPs, in just over seven months – that’s one every eight days (if they work through the Christmas holidays). Timetabling may be a matter for the parliament itself, but the government also needs to be realistic about what can be achieved.

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Clearly, Swinney wants to make Scotland a better place, or at least his version of that, and, with the election in mind, he also wants to be seen to be doing so. However, he must resist the temptation to ‘deliver’ half-baked legislation that may return to haunt both him and Scotland.

If he finds himself re-elected, being immediately forced to spend a considerable amount of time undoing mistakes or trying to defend bad law until the political pressure becomes too great would make for a very poor start for his new government, the first to have a Swinney mandate from the electorate.

Far better to focus on the main priorities, ensure these bills will have a beneficial effect and that they are unlikely to be blocked by Westminster, like the Gender Recognition Reform Bill. Rushing things through just for the sake of electoral appearances would be a shocking dereliction of duty.