Annabel Goldie: Scottish Government too ‘in thrall’ to independence to work with Westminster

The Scottish Government is so “in thrall” to the cause of independence that it is preventing itself from working meaningfully with Westminster, former Scottish Tory leader Annabel Goldie has said.

In an exclusive interview with Holyrood, Goldie said the SNP was worried about “weakening its credentials as a party seeking independence”.

In a wide-ranging interview covering her time at the Scottish Parliament as well as her role now as UK defence minister, the former MSP also said the Scottish Government was finding it “very challenging” to deliver after 16 years in power.

Goldie was leader of the Scottish Conservatives between 2005 and 2011, during which time her party worked with the SNP under Alex Salmond on multiple budgets.

She told Holyrood that her aim at the time was to “do something to improve life for people in Scotland” and she decided that “if I can achieve that by working with [Salmond] on policies where we agree, I’ll do it.”

On such an alliance being unlikely in the current political climate, Goldie said: “There has to be mutual respect if people are to engage, and I think one of the difficulties has been that the Scottish Government has been so in thrall to its political objective of independence that it has really excluded all other lines of communication with Westminster in a meaningful sense, because it feels in some way that is weakening its credentials as a party seeking independence.”

And while defending the Scottish Parliament as a “solid and honourable” institution, she suggested more could be done to ensure it provided “intelligent, objective” scrutiny of the government.

This, she said, would have improved Scottish Government policy and decisions – such as the delayed deposit return scheme (DRS) which she described as “a classic example of the road to hell being paved with good intentions”.

The Scottish Government last month delayed the rollout of the DRS after the UK Government granted only a partial exemption to the UK-wide Internal Market Act.

UK ministers agreed the scheme could go ahead in March 2024 if it no longer included glass, in line with its own DRS plans.

But Scottish ministers questioned the viability of the scheme without glass and opted instead to move the launch until at least October 2025, when the rest of the UK is also due to begin its scheme.

Goldie said: “Had there been a more measured approach, it would have been clear from the outset this is going to be difficult to do in a Scottish-only way. What we really ought to do is, let’s discuss with the UK Government, what’s the best way we can achieve a scheme that works across the United Kingdom, but will work well in Scotland?”

And on the Scottish Government’s record as a whole, she suggested the failure to deliver key public services was “more corrosive” for the SNP than its current internal party struggles.

She said: “I think the Scottish Government has found that being in government is not easy. I think the Scottish Government has found that although it craved more powers for the devolved parliament, and was given more powers, the exercise of these powers has been very challenging and very problematic.

“And it is now finding, because it has been the devolved government for 16 years, that voters are asking questions about the health service, about the justice system, about ferries, about transport, all these essential public services on which people in Scotland rely, and people are clearly making their own judgement.

“That’s what democracy is about. I think the Scottish Government is finding that is a very uncomfortable judgement.”

Goldie, who became defence minister under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, admitted she felt “sadness” over how his political career ended.

She said: “Boris Johnson is a man of huge intelligence, combined with vision, and you don’t often get that. Sadly, he is also somebody who is characterised by flaws – flaws, I think, that he would fully admit to it.

“And in life, you are judged according to whether on the whole your contribution is regarded as positive or do the flaws start to eclipse the positives, and I think they have, tragically, in Boris Johnson’s case.”