“Come on behave,” was the Kenneth Williams style command from Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick at First Minister’s Questions this week as the chamber went into uproar over the differing views of the UK and Scottish Governments on the cost of independence.
Ordinary Scots are probably thinking the same after a week that saw politicians turn bickering into a Commonwealth Games demo sport. First it was the blame game over who’s het for letting Ukip in the back door to Scotland. Then it was handbags at dawn over who knows best what the impact of independence will be on our hard-earned cash.
Phew, and this was all before we went in to the regulated period of formal campaigning ahead of the referendum vote on 18 September – which started today.
On Monday, results from the European elections confirmed that Ukip had achieved its first ever seat north of the border, claiming the sixth Scottish slot in Brussels with 10% of the vote. While the SNP and Labour returned two MEPs and the Scottish Conservatives one, Mr Salmond’s party were bitterly disappointed to fail in their goal of securing a third seat.
The Herald called it a “bitter war of words”. The Scotsman splash was “Ukip blame game”. Whatever you call it, it was a classic stramash with Labour MEP David Martin suggesting that Ukip owed its seat to the SNP for polarising the campaign. Tory MSP Alex Johnstone pointed out strong similarities between what he called the “publicity-seeking” Messrs Farage and Salmond. In retort, Nicola Sturgeon claimed “wall-to-wall” media coverage of Mr Farage down south “beamed into Scotland” helped put Ukip on the Scottish political map.
Ukip’s first Scottish elected representative is Glasgow-born David Coburn, whose official postal address for the election was Kensington, London. Soon after the results on Monday, Mr Coburn signalled his intention to get involved in the Better Together campaign, stating that Mr Farage was “keen as mustard” to spend more time in Scotland campaigning for a “no” vote. After his kebabing by the BBC’s Gary Robertson on GMS - he repeatedly and excruciatingly failed to cite one example of EU red-tape impacting on Scottish business - Ukip’s man in Scotland would be well advised to brush up on his media skills before his boss ventures north.
Referendum knock-about resumed on Wednesday when the UK and Scottish Governments released their own papers setting out the costs and benefits of Scottish independence. Referendum “don’t knows” will be none the wiser after watching the Scottish Government say a yes vote will make Scots £1000 better off a year, while the UK Government claimed people would benefit by £1,400 per person per year if they vote no. The question is, which side’s message do people believe most, because that’s what it will come down to for most undecided voters.
What is not in question is that Mr Salmond was handed a golden opportunity to rise to his tub-thumping best at this week’s FMQs when Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie tried to pin him down on the exact costs of independence.
After honing his footie skills at a photo-op in Rutherglen earlier in the week, this was the First Minister’s chance to slot home an open goal by harking back to the UK Government’s use of research by LSE academic Prof Patrick Dunleavy to make the financial case for the union. The First Minister didn’t have to go within a mile of answering Mr Rennie’s question as he lampooned the UK Government after Prof Dunleavy himself said its inaccurate use of his work was “ludicrous”.
That’s all good bloodsport to those who live and breathe the referendum debate. But for most undecided voters it’s almost impossible to know which side came out of the week in front.
So today we go into the 16-week regulated period, where the two official campaign groups – Better Together and Yes Scotland will subject to a £1.5m spending limit.
It might seem like it started at least two years ago, but the referendum campaign begins in earnest today. Let the fun and games begin. Only time will tell if Mrs Marwick’s request for our politicians to behave will be listened to or fall on deaf ears.
Lindsay McGarvie
Director, 3x1 Public Relations