The 10-year economic strategy is generalised, vague and backwards looking.
The corporate domination of the economy has led to an enormous loss of company headquarters and the emaciation of the medium-sized industry sector which are key to quality jobs and research and development investment.
We need an industrial strategy, being forensic in identifying what kinds of economic activity generate the kinds of adjectives that appear throughout this report.
A serious strategy for Scotland would mean devolving economic power down to the region and indeed town level. Central belt policy has not helped in the past and won’t help now.
Rather than peering at itself in the mirror and telling us all how good it looks, a effective strategy would focus on doing genuinely useful things, things that a Scottish business figure or skilled worker or low-pay worker would look at and say ‘ah, that helps’.
Decarbonisation is only possible with concerted action across the public and private sectors, but as much of the private sector will continually seek delays, it must be driven by the public interest and not profit motives. It is that simple.
This is only one example of where economic leadership is needed. In supply chain resilience, in getting skills development right (again, not a module on how to market a pizza with new toppings), in recognising that existing business support services are not fit for purpose, in breaking central belt dominance – in all of it, bluster and PR leads nowhere.
Transformation does not happen because you say you want it to but because you make a serious contribution to it happening. That is leadership. Press releases are something else.