LONDON: Newly-elected Prime Minister Keir Star­mer on Sunday began a whistlestop tour of UK nations, promising an “imme­diate reset” of relations with the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Starmer was due to meet Scotland’s First Minister and leader of the pro-separatist Scottish National Party (SNP) John Swinney in Edinburgh ahead of trips to Cardiff and Belfast expected on Monday.

The meeting comes as the SNP was almost wiped out at last week’s election which put Starmer’s Labour Party in power by a landslide. Labour, which crushed Rishi Sunak’s ruling Conservatives at the polls, also overturned more than a decade of SNP domination in Scotland by capturing the majority of its 57 seats.

Swinney lamented a “very, very difficult and damaging” election result for his party. He had set the party’s sights on winning 29 seats as a mandate for reopening negotiations with the British government for another independence referendum, but it returned only nine MPs.

‘Seat at the table’

Under ex-premier Tony Blair, Labour was the architect of devolving power to the regions in the late 1990s with the setting up of parliaments or national assemblies in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.

But under the Conserva­tives leaders in the three capitals complained that they were increasingly sidelined. Starmer said disagreement could be turned into cooperation “and a genuine seat at the table” to deliver the UK-wide change he has promised.

“That begins today with an immediate reset of my government’s approach to working with the first and deputy first ministers, because meaningful cooperation centred on respect will be key to delivering change across our United Kingdom.” The devolved administrations have the power to set policy in a range of areas such as education and housing.

Responsibility for policy on matters such as national defence, international relations and the monarchy, however, are the sole preserve of the UK-wide Westminster parliament in London.

SNP in turmoil

Swinney said he was looking forward to discussions on shared priorities. Those included “eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, prioritising net zero, and ensuring effective public services”, he said in a statement. The SNP has dominated in Scotland in the last three UK elections, peaking with the 2015 vote when it won 56 out of 59 seats. But the party has been in turmoil for months as voters tire of its 17 years in charge of the devolved Scottish parliament in Edinburgh.

Critics accuse it of focusing on independence at the expense of key issues such as the cost-of-living crisis, education and health. Support for the SNP has also slumped amid the party finances scandal that saw former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell, charged with embezzlement.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2024