Sepi Golzari-Munro

We know that many of the macro-economic levers that affect the Scottish economy are held by the UK Government. So...how can the NEW Scottish Labour MPs - best serve Scotland down in Westminster - in the UK Parliament? Here's Liz Lloyd's take.

What do you think? What else can they do? #Scotland

🚨Public Knowledge E1 now available! Nicola Sturgeon's X-Chief gives frank & insightful view into Scotland-UK relationship & power plays.

Whatever your politics, the mal/functioning of this relationship has huge impact on lives & biz in Scotland. Yes? No? www.youtube.com/@Public_Know...

Too much to hope for no doubt, but it needs doing.

It’s all too bitty right now and too many important, long term issues fall through the cracks. We need all the pieces laid before us as the public, businesses - and as potential investors - to see how our two governments are acting for the good of Scotland.

it feels like we need a more formal, & very public, set piece collaboration between the two:

An incredibly focused, multi-year plan for economic transformation where both Govs clearly set out how they are each going to use & align the levers they have at their disposal for good of Scottish economy.

I’ve been focused on better cooperation between Westminster and Holyrood for the benefit of the Scottish economy for a long time now… particularly on the energy transition.

And while relations between the two governments are better since Labour came into office in the U.K…

As Graeme Roy made clear - our economy and public finances overall are not in great shape, projections don’t look good either. And given the fiscal settlement we have, so many of the macro-economic levers sit with Westminster.

But no matter how good the Scottish Budget is, it never feels like it will be enough.

And that’s because it can’t be.

There are some measures in the budget that are to be welcome, including the commitment to retain ScotWind money for long term capital investment to enable the energy transition (rather than day to day spending) and the £150m for supply chain development (though the devil is in the detail there).

But she went on to say: all that remains just a “nice idea” unless we clear the pathway for this investment to be made, for that offshore wind to be built, for the supply chains to be developed.

She knows that for too long we’ve been in nice-idea-territory.

it’s clear how self aware she is too.

At one point she said what we’ve been hearing for years:

That we in Scotland have a huge opportunity to grasp on the energy transition - that we even have more offshore wind in the pipeline than the US does through its historic Inflation Reduction Act.

Kate Forbes is a brilliant politician.

It’s one of 2024’s blessings, in my book, to see her back in the Scottish Government, given her sharp focus on the economy.

Listening to her speak at yesterday’s Scottish Budget Business Breakfast…

A tall order indeed and not one that can, nor indeed should, be laid at the feet of our politicians - but a responsibility we all need to shoulder - not least those in the media and lobby.

And that needs a “decade (at least) of renewal”.

But it seems a decade of renewal needs us to reverse 5 decades of compounding hunger for immediacy and instant gratification.

Those aren’t just numbers. They mean worse railways, worse hospitals, fewer MRI scanners, ports and roads ill-equipped to enable the clean energy transition… the list goes on.

The last two decades have seen some of the lowest levels of public AND business investment - public investment among the worst performing in the OECD and private investment the worst in the G7.

But the last half century has seen the decline of patience. And what has this meant?

In the U.K. alone it’s meant a country living off its past rather than investing in its future.

Practices such as delayed inheritance, increased savings, emphasis on education and self-discipline, ultimately leading to the West’s emergence from little more than a backwater, into the most industrially and technically advanced civilisation in the world…

He contrasts this with the cultural evolution of patience that began taking root in European societies around the time (though slightly before) the Reformation.

In his book, The Weirdest People in the World, Joseph Henrich explores the gradual decline in patience and increased hunger for immediate gratification in Western societies since the 1970s.

Published today - our new Progress Report on Scotland’s Adaptation Progress is published today, completing our progress reporting tour of each of the UK nations.

With flooding in Brechin still fresh in the memory, this is a topical report.
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This in FT is encouraging on Northvolt dev of energy storage tech (sodium-ion) w/o lithium, cobalt, nickel

Still not at energy density req for EVs but getting close to req density for energy storage

Keen for more info & to find out more about any UK progress here

www.ft.com/content/826f...