Scotland needs politicians to act like grown-ups, not squabbling children, and put the country’s interests first
Published 17th Oct 2026, 06:00 BST
Ahead of the Prime Minister’s trip to Scotland, the SNP, rather cheekily, decided to invite him to attend their party conference. It was obviously a stunt, but a friendly enough one. Boris Johnson, for example, would never have been asked.
Then, speaking in Motherwell, Andy Burnham expressed the hope that Scotland’s two parties of government would be able to “move beyond constitutional questions” and work together.
“In my view, people in Scotland are suffering from the cost-of-living crisis, like they are in England and everywhere else, and I think our job is to focus on the practicalities, to focus on solutions for people right now,” he said. “... too much time is wasted on those [constitutional] dramas, it consumes too much energy. Get into the things that can make a difference in people’s lives now, get doing the things that can take young people off benefits in their 20s and give them an opportunity now. We can do it.”
There are many SNP politicians who will wholeheartedly agree with these sentiments. And we are equally confident that the vast majority of the public would do so too.
Burnham to recognise ‘his own hypocrisy’?
However, we have been here before. After Keir Starmer won the 2024 election, there were moments when SNP-Labour relations could almost have been described as a ‘love in’. Unfortunately, relations soon soured.
SNP Cabinet minister Stephen Flynn’s initial response to Burnham’s remarks was disappointing. He said the Prime Minister had not explicitly ruled out a referendum – he’s done so repeatedly in the past – because “he’s a reasonable man” who would recognise “his own hypocrisy” if he were to hold a second EU vote, but not one on independence.
Both the SNP and Labour have political reasons to try to make the other party look bad. However, if they want to do the job they were elected to do – to make life better for the citizens they represent – they need to act like grown-ups and cooperate.
Twisting a rival’s words to make an attack soundbite isn’t smart politics, it’s petty and vacuous stuff. In hard times for many, we need leaders who are determined to make a real difference, not act like squabbling children.