Euan McColm: Keith Brown and the SNP’s cynical grievances take their supporters for fools

Keith Brown is dourness made flesh, a man for whom nothing tastes so sweet as grievance.

In fact, he likes it so much he’s perfected the recipe which I’m pleased to share with you today.

First, take a perfectly mundane situation then douse it with equal parts bullshit and rage. Allow to simmer on social media and soon you’ll have a fresh batch of manufactured injustice.

Brown’s most recent creation is the nonsensical charge that the intention of the UK government to invest in Scotland is a “threat to devolution”. According to Brown, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is prepared to “undermine” the Scottish Parliament and “interfere” in devolved affairs.

So tasty is Brown’s new concoction that culture secretary Angus Robertson has been stuffing his face with it, too.

Robertson demands to know if Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar was aware of this “secret plan” and whether he backs it. It is only, he adds, through a “fresh start with independence” that the integrity – indeed, the future – of Holyrood can be protected.

During First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, John Swinney said the prime minister had revealed his contempt for devolution.

There is, of course, no covert UK government operation to weaken devolution.

This latest outrage is based on a leaked memo in which the prime minister urges colleagues to be more proactive across the UK.

Starmer told his cabinet that an “overly deferential or laissez-faire” to engagement with devolved administrations “almost inevitably” throws up political challenges or means opportunities are missed.

“We should,” wrote the PM, “be confident in our ability to deliver directly in those nations, including through direct spending, even when devolved governments may oppose this.”

None of the above even begins to support the preposterous claim that Starmer and his government have drawn up a secret plan to scupper the Scottish Parliament.

Remove the confected outrage and what we’re left with, here, is simply evidence of devolution working as it was always supposed to.

The leaked memo reveals the prime minister of the United Kingdom going about the business of being prime minister of the United Kingdom, of which – painful though it may be to Brown and Robertson – Scotland is still part.

The principles of Scottish devolution – a project delivered by a UK Labour government – are simple and easy to understand: Ministers at Holyrood are responsible for decision making and delivery across a range of policy areas, while their counterparts in Westminster retain authority on reserved issues such as defence, foreign affairs, immigration and most aspects of taxation.

The UK Government is also entitled – indeed obliged – to invest in Scottish infrastructure, which remains part of UK infrastructure.

What Keith Brown and his colleagues are doing is not defending devolution, they are attacking the UK government for having the audacity to govern.

Of course, so far as the SNP is concerned, no UK Government, be it left, right, or centre, can do right for doing wrong.

If the Prime Minister had written a memo in which he advised his ministers that they should not engage with the needs of Scotland, Keith Brown would, I’m quite sure, be telling us that ours was a country abandoned by Westminster. He would be telling us that this indifference was yet another reason why independence is essential.

There is, undoubtedly, an audience for the sort of exhausting claptrap peddled by the Nats over the past week. There are many who will nod along, agreeing with Brown’s analysis.

But these loyal SNP supporters are being taken for fools by the party to which they swear allegiance.

Others who have paid attention to the contents of the leaked memo may wonder why, precisely, the SNP is angry about the prospect of the UK government spending money in Scotland. After all, isn’t the well-rehearsed nationalist accusation that Westminster cares nothing for the needs of Scots?

During the independence referendum campaign of 2014, conspiracy theories ran wild. A particular favourite of the nationalist movement was the tall tale of the secret oilfield off the coast of Shetland.

According to a disturbingly high number of Yes campaigners, the UK government had kept the discovery of this black goldmine hidden in order to undermine the independence cause.

Of course, this was laughable nonsense but senior SNP figures did not rush to correct the story. Instead, they were perfectly happy to allow their more excitable supporters to believe in a dastardly plot to deny Scots their destiny.

Phoney rage over a non-existent plan to undermine the devolution project is pitched to appeal to the conspiracist mindset that allowed the oilfield fantasy to become gospel among a hardcore of nationalists.

Perhaps, when intervening on the matter of Starmer’s memo, these SNP politicians believe they appear courageous defenders of Scotland’s interests. Fearless they are, in the face of Westminster malevolence. But, really, they look rather pathetic, forced to resort to blatant dishonesty in order to gee-up a nationalist movement that lacks momentum or focus.

From their shaky seat on the moral high ground, SNP ministers make a habit of calling out the morality of their political opponents. Those who don’t agree with their secessionist project are not merely wrong, they are dishonest.

The gleam in the SNP eye is the party’s enthusiasm for doing precisely what it accuses others of doing.

The claim of a dark UK Government plot to wreck devolution is a grubby, cynical lie.