Elevation of politics over policy is damaging – and the wounds are now clearly visible

The conclusion of a recent think tank report that the Scottish Government is more “focused on announcing, not achieving” will come as no surprise to those of us who have been working in and around politics and policy in recent years.

Ministers have been obsessively concerned with the optics of their decisions rather than the outcomes for some time. The pattern is always the same. A problem rears its head, a strategy or framework or piece of legislation is announced as the solution, and then we all carry on our merry way with no thought to whether the problem has actually been resolved.

That this conclusion came from Our Scottish Future, the think tank founded by former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown, should not dilute the message. The report was put together following interviews with senior public servants. Professor Jim Gallagher, the author and a former public servant himself, put it bluntly: “Everyone we spoke to, indeed just about everyone in Scottish public life, knows we have a big problem. Government struggles to deliver for the people of Scotland. Politics has overwhelmed public policy… Politics is at the root of the problem, but the civil service machine itself is also struggling to perform effectively.”

The think tank highlighted high-profile examples in the failed deposit return scheme or the overbudget and overdue ferries for the Clyde and Hebrides routes, but there are many more smaller ones too.

The day before the report was published, concerns were raised in parliament about female genital mutilation (FGM). While illegal since 1985, politicians moved to strengthen legislation in 2020 following concerns that not a single person has been prosecuted for committing such a crime. Yet this 2020 act has never been implemented. When asked whether the legislation passed in the last parliament would be in full force before the end of this parliament, equalities minister Kaukab Stewart sidestepped the question.

The minister said it was important to ensure the legislation was implemented “in a way that is sustainable”, noting that it “requires co-ordinated action from multiple stakeholders”. That may be true. But the question remains: why hasn’t this been achievable in five years? And when MSPs were told in March 2020 that in passing the bill Scotland is “protecting more women and girls than we were yesterday”, what other conclusion can you draw from the failure to enact it than this is a government more interested in soundbites than success?

Moreover, Stewart seemed more concerned with a Herald article that said over 1,200 women in Glasgow had been treated for FGM in the last five years. It was misleading, she said, because that did not mean all those women had been subjected to FGM in this country. “It is highly possible that the procedure was performed overseas,” she claimed. Aside from the fact that ministers cannot possibly know that all 1,200 instances occurred abroad, given the underground nature of FGM, it speaks volumes that she was more keen to emphasise that point than acknowledge her government’s failures to implement a piece of legislation which enjoyed the backing of the whole parliament.

Our Scottish Future has made a series of recommendations on how to bridge the gap between announcements and delivery, highlighting that the 2026 election “offers an opportunity for change”. The subtext may be that it hopes for a Scottish Labour government, but if (as all the current polls suggest) the SNP win another term in office, they too would do well to learn these lessons if they wish to build a more successful Scotland.

But given the government’s response to the report was simply to place blame elsewhere for its failures, I won’t hold my breath. A spokesperson for constitution secretary Angus Robertson said: “Scotland has the opportunity to choose a fresh start with independence and escape the failed UK economic model that’s holding us back.” It seems ministers are content to point the finger at Westminster and tout independence as a magic cure-all. Yet issues like the FGM Act or building ferries are wholly devolved. This government cannot hide behind constitutional questions forever.

Style over substance is not a new problem in our politics, nor is it limited to Scotland. Politicians of all stripes of course want to highlight their wins and minimise their failures. Indeed, part of how politics operates must necessarily involve some spin or else those in power leave it to opposition to dictate what their record is. But the elevation of politics over policy is damaging – and the wounds are now clearly visible to all.

If public servants are sounding the alarm that things are not working as they should, ministers must heed that warning. Scotland has had enough of politicians talking warm words and failing to deliver change.