Scotland risks disaster if it ignores David Murray's warning about SNP government 'trading insolvently'
When expensive public projects are badly managed, it inevitably has a real impact on the state of the nation
Given Scotland is about to elect a new one, what constitutes a ‘good’ government should concern us all. Different people will have different views about the SNP’s track record, depending to a degree on their own experiences and those of the people closest to them.
However, there are outside voices that are worth listening to, most especially in the business world, given the importance of the economy to everything else. David Murray, who had set up Murray International Metals by the age of just 23 and now chairs private investment company Murray Capital, is certainly one of those.
Casting a businessman’s eye over the SNP’s performance in office, he said his “main gripe” was about waste in major spending projects. “For every £100 we take in in tax, we're spending £120. We've got nearly a 12 per cent GDP deficit. It's unsustainable. If we're a business, we're trading insolvently, we can't go on like this,” he said.
“... When I was in Glasgow last week, I took the car past the new Barlinnie [prison] getting built. Already it's going to be more than double the price, and already it's not big enough. Then I carried through to Airdrie-Coatbridge and the site of the new Monklands hospital, which I'm told if it's finished for 2033 it could be £2 billion. I do not understand. We seem to make the same mistakes again and again. Where's the discipline in building projects?”
He also pointed to problems with Edinburgh’s Sick Children’s Hospital, the delayed and over-budget new hospital in Aberdeen, and the Aberdeen bypass. Many other people – like islanders in need of a ferry or Highlanders waiting for the A9 to be dualled – will have their own examples.
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The cost of badly managed government projects is usually felt in higher taxes or spending cuts. And when it runs into the billions, this will inevitably have a real impact on the state of the nation – there are reasons behind the “SNP austerity” complained about for years by local councillors.
Good government means making the most efficient use of taxpayers’ money. Giving multiple blank cheques to politicians who continually waste it will only end in disaster.
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