Euan McColm: Misguided voters let SNP win the blame game

Prospects for the opposition are bleak while the government continues to escape criticism for its failures and gain credit for others’ success, writes Euan McColm

Some years ago, I was invited to a press conference organised by a group of actors. Like the fool I am, I agreed to attend. A small band of thesps were angry about the existence of a detention centre for illegal immigrants and wanted all of Scotland to follow their lead in demanding MSPs close it down.

Being actors, they all had to do a turn, and so there was a series of impassioned but slightly hammy speeches to be endured before an invitation for questions from the assembled hacks (I think there were four of us).

I wanted to know something: why, since the existence of this detention centre was a matter for Westminster rather than Holyrood, were they demanding people contact their MSPs? Wouldn’t it make sense to direct the campaign towards people with responsibility and put the focus on MPs?

The actor sitting stage-left looked at me as if I were stupid before confirming that, in fact, he was.

“I don’t care who’s responsible,” he said, “I just want something done about it.”

This cocktail of piety, idiocy and petulance was heady indeed but I struggled on and asked what it was he thought might be done when Holyrood had no authority?

“I think I’ve answered your question,” he said.

I thought, well, you haven’t, but I was in no mood to get into a pointless to and fro with an actor in high dudgeon; actors are at their trickiest in that state. This fellow had spent considerable time and effort – and more than a few quid – being furious with MSPs and he was in no mood to change his mind. I’d tried to explain the reality and it had only made him angry. I said no more and returned to my office, where, naturally, I wrote a snarky little piece about daft actors.

I was struck back then by how readily those chaps ignored the facts of the matter. They had decided to be furious with what was then the Labour-Lib-Dem Scottish Executive at Holyrood and that was that.