Scottish business and the SNP are still miles apart

It has fallen to her successor, but one, John Swinney to attempt to get things back on track but the new report suggests that the Scottish business community remain unconvinced that his government’s so-called New Deal for Business can provide the remedies required.

He might take some comfort from the fact that the statistics in this think-tank’s report don’t show a massive deterioration in the relationship between business and ministers. But the figures are merely flat-lining and demonstrate clearly what most people in the commercial world have always believed – namely that there is precious little knowledge of, or interest in, business amongst the majority of politicians in Holyrood.

That has been the situation almost from the very start of the devolved parliament where largely untried MSPs didn’t just know nothing about business but didn’t want to know, either.

To a large extent that changed under the late Alex Salmond. Things may have soured subsequently but this former Royal Bank of Scotland economist was always perfectly comfortable in the company of business men and women.

And during his period as first minister after 2007 he worked hard to improve Scotland’s economic performance, especially in the run-up to the 2014 independence referendum. Although he lost that fight and resigned there is little doubt that without Salmond in charge his party’s priorities veered away from the economy and business.

If there are problems now with Scotland’s economic performance, then the SNP will revert to their tried and trusted tactic of blaming everything on the UK Government.

But these latest statistics about the relationship between ministers and the men and women required to make the economy tick show that the huge gap between the two sides can only be fixed in Scotland.

It is up to John Swinney to close it. And quickly.