Business as usual?

Elaine Smith MSP

With the election a fading memory and the recess at an end, it's back to work at the Scottish Parliament plc.

The initial big issues on the agenda will be tackling anti-social behaviour and Local Government reform. The other main focus for the Labour- led coalition will be their top priority of economic growth and the first debate after the recess is on the Economy.

These are certainly issues that need to be addressed, but for socialists and indeed for a party that still claims to be on the left of the political spectrum, they must be viewed as disappointing priorities for the second term of our hard won, and long awaited, devolution in Scotland.

The consultation paper on anti-social behaviour is cunningly entitled "Putting our communities first". This might lead socialists to believe that a real commitment would be given to tackling the root problems of poverty and deprivation in society. Communities that need help and suffer the most are afflicted by poverty and inequality. It is this poverty and inequality that causes misery, suffering and social problems. There is little mention of poverty and inequality in this paper and the section on causes of anti-social behaviour does not mention these factors at all.

Instead what this paper does is to identify the symptoms and encourage treatment of them without making any attempt to diagnose and cure the underlying causes. Until we recognise and admit that the rich are getting richer at the expense of the poor getting poorer and take real, pro-active steps to change the economy and the distribution of wealth and power then we merely put sticking plasters on broken limbs. I await with interest the debate around the jailing of parents, tagging of children and the Westminster plans to use deductions to housing benefit (the bottom line safeguard for the poorest in society) to attempt to effect social change. (The consultation paper can be found on http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/social/pocf-03.asp)

The Local Government Reform bill will address many issues requiring attention but will be seen in Labour Party circles as the bill to introduce PR for Local Government against Party policy. Whatever you views on PR the fact remains that this has been, and will be, divisive and has been carried out in a paternalistic manner that angers many councillors who see it as part of a centralisation agenda.

I do not question that economic growth is important to Scotland's future but I do question whether this will involve increasing democratic control of the economy to make sure that the economics benefits are for the many and not the few entrepreneurs Ð Scottish or otherwise Ð who seem to be so important to the New Labour leadership.

Also, many of the issues here are, in fact, reserved to Westminster. I asked a question of the First Minister as to whether the Labour Party now held with the Tory view that by concentrating on Economic Growth there was an expectation that state intervention is no longer required on the assumption that creating a "bigger cake" would benefit everyone. I did not receive an answer to that specific part of my question. However, you can make your own mind up on this by accessing the exchange on the Parliament website - http://www.scottish.parliament.uk - and checking the response in the official report for 28th May.

The root causes of poverty, inequality and deprivation, and finding real and lasting solutions to that, should be the number one priority for the Executive and the Scottish Parliament. Unfortunately, I suspect my views are in a minority within the Labour Group yet again. Business as usual in the Scottish Parliament plc.