Whether the Scottish people believe the Scottish National Party (SNP) deserve a fifth term in power will be determined on 7 May. However, on 19 January, the Edinburgh Union debated the motion: “This house has no confidence in the Scottish government.”
With 69 votes in favour and 57 against, the debate predicted bleak results for the SNP in May.
Sam Mackenzie, a second-year history student, opposed the motion, while Ben Young, a fourth-year international relations student, supported it.
Young opened with a scathing and comprehensive review of the SNP’s long-term failure. He drew upon the shortcomings of the SNP’s healthcare policies, attributing the “decimated” number of GPs to having influenced the increase in the number of avoidable or preventable deaths, which he claimed had reached 25 per cent.
Mackenzie followed this example-heavy speech with a personal anecdote about the SNP’s impact on his upbringing.
He argued that he was shaped by the SNP’s cultural and social investments, which enabled him to learn the bagpipes, get free bus travel with a YoungScot Card, and receive free tuition.
The SNP, in Mackenzie’s view, created a government that cared about the Scottish people, unlike the opposition parties. He citied Reform as an example, critiquing them in his statement:
“Nigel Farage hates Scotland.”
The guest speakers who followed were Katherine Sangster—Labour candidate for Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent—and Alex Cole-Hamilton—Leader of the Scottish Lib-Dems—as proposition.
Alex Kerr—SNP candidate for the Hamilton, Larkhall, and Stonehouse Constituency—and Paul McLennan—former Housing Minister—opposed.
Sangster followed the student speakers with a reminder that Labour had initiated Scottish devolution.
She criticised the SNP for the same policies that Mackenzie previously praised.
In Sangster’s view, Scotland’s free tuition scheme is fundamentally limited, as Scottish universities cap the number of places for Scottish students because of it.
Therefore, Scottish students travel south for their higher education as she argued:
“Good intentions do not make good policies”.
However, Sangster defended the Labour Government, promising that the “Labour government is delivering change.”
The remainder of the panel, however, did not withhold their antipathy to the UK government, with Cole-Hamilton saying early on in his speech that he does not “want to see this debate as a debate between two failing governments.”
The debate soon centred on the SNP’s nationalist ideology, a slight deviation from the student speakers’ more focused discussion on the SNP’s record.
Cole-Hamilton claimed that the SNP is too concerned with independence to deliver real change at home:
“When they lost that opportunity [the independence referendum], it’s all they have thought about ever since.”
Kerr soon fell into Cole-Hamilton’s stereotype by immediately reinforcing the SNP’s nationalist position, claiming the question of independence “hasn’t been settled yet.”
The SNP members claimed that their failings were due to limitations imposed by Westminster, and that their successes lie in the devolved sectors.
McLennon said his record as housing minister “is a record he is proud of” and again blames Westminster for his inability to borrow and build more.
The Edinburgh Union’s first debate of the semester reflected uncertainty surrounding the SNP’s record with a result that reveals the divided views of voters ahead of May.
Image by Leah Collins for The Student