Why John Swinney's attempted defence of 'SNP austerity' is a worrying sign

According to this narrative, the UK chose to be austere, while Scotland preferred instead to be generous, handing out free prescriptions, free university tuition, baby boxes, and much more. The pitch was simple: vote for independence and life will be like this, but even more so.

So the charge of “SNP austerity” must sting, particularly with Finance Secretary Shona Robison set to announce further swingeing cuts today, ahead of John Swinney’s first Programme for Government tomorrow.

Living within our means

However, nationalists should not be alarmed because the First Minister has helpfully explained that there is no such thing as “SNP austerity”. Instead, his government is simply “living within its means” – and those means, remember, are set by the skinflints down south. In Swinney’s world, it seems, Westminster doesn’t have to live within its means and, therefore, cannot use the same excuse.

Were this true, Liz Truss’s unfunded tax cuts would have been as fine as Jeremy Corbyn’s plans to spend big. Of course, it is not true. While comparisons to household budgets do not entirely hold water, all governments, to one extent or another, have to live within their means. The failure to do so, as Truss’s short stay in 10 Downing Street succinctly demonstrated, can cause economic chaos on a national scale.

All this may sound a bit trivial, an argument about semantics, but it is not. For too long, the SNP have sought to blame Westminster for everything that’s wrong in Scotland, amid a string of costly blunders of their own making, from the ferries fiasco to the debacle over the deposit-return scheme.

Until Swinney and co finally realise they need to start taking responsibility for Scotland’s problems, they are unlikely to actually fix them. Not all of them are the SNP’s fault, but they are the governing party and they are ‘responsible’ for doing something about them. But judging by Swinney’s tired old rhetoric, it seems the penny is yet to drop.