The Scottish Government under Humza Yousaf’s brief and unsuccessful leadership maintained some momentum on independence by issuing nine further instalments of their series ‘Building a New Scotland’ between June 2023 and March 2024.
Two issues arise with these documents. The first is whether they should have been produced at all. Opposition parties seized on the fact that ‘Minister for Independence’ Jamie Hepburn was backed by a ‘Constitutional Futures’ unit and contend that advice on the reserved function of the Union is an impermissible use of officials who are part of the Home Civil Service.
The second issue is the content of the papers. They weigh in at a total of 778 pages, compared with the 649 of the 2013 prospectus Scotland’s Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland. They are also more evidence-based, with many tables and footnotes. The common theme is that of the potential of small nations in the European Union.
Taken together, the papers surely make the case for civil service involvement in policy planning by pro-independence ministers. Naturally they are partial to government views and aspirations, but they do relate to data and evidence and embody research effort. Setting out the agenda for discussion can be as important as presenting conclusions. The electorate will be able to cast its verdict on 17 and counting years of SNP government at the next Holyrood elections, but for the UK to use up political capital to challenge the use of Scottish civil servants’ time before that would be unwise and probably futile.