BREXIT will close our universities, Brexit will destroy the NHS, Brexit will eliminate 300,000 jobs. Brexit is the greatest challenge we have ever faced. Brexit is such a big deal that the Scottish Government should ignore trivia such as getting health, education and policing right and concentrate on Brexit – and trains of course.
Brexit is important but much less important than it is made out to be by hand-wringing politicians and media types. The Second World War was a real challenge, as is Scotland’s obesity crisis, compared to these the UK leaving the EU is a second order issue. You wouldn’t think this from the nonsense we are having to endure from Holyrood and elsewhere about what a great disaster Brexit will be and we are all doomed.
Except that of course we are not doomed. Nicola Sturgeon should stop grandstanding, stop picking fights with the UK Government (how would she feel if Glasgow City Council treated the Scottish Government the same way she behaves towards the UK Government?), stop twisting every situation towards a goal of independence and realise that there are two important things she could do which would actually help the Scottish economy.
The first thing she should understand is that uncertainty is not helpful for business. If you are unclear about what is going to happen to demand for your goods or services you are less likely to invest or take on new employees. By constantly exaggerating the effect of Brexit, the Scottish Government does no favour to Scotland’s economy.
The unhelpful effect of this however is dwarfed by the reigniting of uncertainty about Scotland’s place in the UK – four times the economic importance for Scotland than the rest of the EU put together.
If you actually want to be a First Minister of Scotland rather than a narrow nationalist, the second referendum should be ruled out now, and a more measured message on the real effect of Brexit would also be a big step forward. Brexit is an unhelpful factor, we need to deal with it sensibly and we can do so.
Businesses regard Brexit as just one of the things they have to cope with, they adjust their plans, they get on with it. There are more important things for them.
The second thing that the First Minister should do is focus on delivering the things that Scotland needs to be more prosperous whilst avoiding the politically correct agenda which seems to be our Government’s pre-occupation.
The biggest issues facing the ability of Scottish business to create wealth and jobs to pay for the services we all want, are not the number of women on company boards or how to deal fairly with people who are unsure of their gender or even fox hunting. These things are important but what we must concentrate on are things like world class broadband throughout the country, ensuring our roads don’t have holes in them and our railways work, reforming public services so that they focus on serving their customers rather than pleasing the unions, cutting rather than adding to regulation, halting our steady march towards a high tax society. These are the things which will actually allow us to have more hospitals and schools and create a successful country. Many of them are politically difficult and require courage and leadership. If we don’t tackle these issues now we never will and we will be the poorer for it. Brexit should not be used as an excuse by politicians for failure in the day job.
Pinstripe is a senior member of Scotland's financial services community
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