Every so often a story emerges that exposes the true character of a politician or a government.
Last week’s Mail on Sunday front page, revealing eye-watering £20,000 pay rises for SNP ministers, did just that.
And it wasn’t pretty for John Swinney or his party.
Out of touch, entitled and sleekit were just some of the words that came to mind on reading it.
Let’s start with the First Minister, who sanctioned these sweetheart deals, then opted not to take one himself.
Last week, his aides told this newspaper that The Mail on Sunday had helped “crystallise” his thoughts that it would be inappropriate for him personally to accept the rise.
Presumably in the same way that a mum walking into the kitchen to find her child with one hand in the cookie jar might “crystallise” the kid’s mind to take their hand out of the jar.
When asked about this issue at a press conference on Monday, the First Minister explained that, as the person who decided to award SNP ministers their huge rise, it would not be appropriate for him to benefit personally from it.
Unless the First Minister can provide evidence to the contrary, it appears that this conscience only kicked in when he was embarrassed by this newspaper – not at the time he rubberstamped the across-the-board pay hikes.
Now there’s a debate to be had about the appropriate level of pay for the country’s most senior politician.
Mr Swinney’s aides said The Mail on Sunday had helped “crystallise” the First Minister’s thoughts that it would be inappropriate for him personally to accept the rise
Former Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross writes that it appeared the First Minister’s conscience only kicked in when he was embarrassed by the Mail on Sunday
Some people argue he or she should be more handsomely rewarded for such a crucial and challenging job.
Others argue that it’s still a very healthy salary and, besides, First Ministers, like Prime Ministers, really cash in after leaving office, via the lecture circuit, lucrative positions on boards or, as Nicola Sturgeon is discovering, book deals.
But these are philosophical arguments for another day. This furore is down to optics, timing and transparency.
John Swinney may have belatedly opted not to take the cash himself but he sanctioned enormous pay hikes – way beyond the annual cost-of-living uplift most workers get, if they’re lucky – for his ministers.
In the current climate, when Scots are being pummelled by his government’s tax hikes while the essential services they rely on get worse, it’s a terrible look.
It also reflects how disconnected the First Minister is from the public.
To sanction these rises this month – which has been dubbed Awful April – is crass.
Ordinary Scots are experiencing huge, above-inflation council tax hikes this month because local authorities are chronically underfunded by the SNP government.
Many workers are being dragged into higher rates of income tax too, because the Nats have refused to increase the thresholds at which different bands apply.
ScotRail – which we were told would become cheaper and more efficient under SNP nationalisation – have just introduced higher ticket prices.
Water bills are soaring too. The energy price cap has also risen, making a mockery of Labour’s cynical pre-election pledge to reduce fuel bills by £300.
Against this backdrop and the squeeze which the SNP government is applying across the public sector, it’s little wonder the announcement, which Mr Swinney hoped to sneak out unnoticed on the day parliament broke up for the Easter break, has gone down like a bucket of cold sick.
Trade unions have reacted with fury and threatened strike action. The GMB accused ministers of hypocrisy for hitting the salary jackpot themselves while expecting others funded by the taxpayers to accept meagre pay rises.
The First Minister has made a rod for his own back when it comes to public-sector pay negotiations. If we are to face a summer of discontent fuelled by industrial action, we’ll all know where to point the finger: at the man who stuck up two of them to the rest of us.
Mr Ross said the cash boost for Ministers comes amid the squeeze which the SNP government is applying across the public sector
Mr Ross called into question the performance of Ministers such as Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills Jenny Gilruth MSP
The fury might not have been so palpable if the Swinney government were not making such a royal mess, collectively and individually, of everything they touch.
One thing’s for sure: these pay rises aren’t performance-related. A quick look at the record of senior cabinet members tells you that many are more deserving of a P45 than a £20k boost.
Neil Gray, the latest in a succession of failed SNP health secretaries, has not made a dent in the myriad crises affecting Scotland’s health service. If anything, the situation is getting worse. Patients are finding it harder than ever to get a GP appointment, cancer treatment and A&E waiting times are intolerable and the problem of delayed discharge, or bed-blocking, is worse than ever, despite the Nationalists’ vow to eradicate it years ago.
Shona Robison, the finance secretary, has saddled Scots with the highest taxes in the UK and failed to pass on business rates relief available south of the border to firms here.
At the same time, she has presided over a huge black hole in Scotland’s budget, necessitating eye-watering cuts to public services.
Talk about a reverse Midas touch.
Oh, and in a previous ministerial life, it was she who piloted Nicola Sturgeon’s reckless gender self-ID bill through parliament – the underlying principle of which was unanimously rejected by the Supreme Court just a few days ago.
On education secretary Jenny Gilruth’s watch there’s an epidemic of violence in our classrooms, the SNP’s promise of free school meals to all primary pupils has been broken and there’s a major funding crisis in higher education, prompting Dundee University to announce 700 job losses.
Justice secretary Angela Constance has presided over the reckless early release of hundreds of prisoners, a tenfold increase in the cost of the replacement for Barlinnie jail in Glasgow and record low numbers of police officers.
When it comes to transport, Fiona Hyslop has reintroduced peak rail fares, as well as being responsible for the SNP’s broken promises to upgrade key trunk roads, like the A9 and A96, and the never-ending ferries scandal.
Social justice secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville took winter fuel payments away from most pensioners, oversaw the lowest number of new houses being built in a decade and presides over record numbers of children in temporary accommodation.
The constitution secretary, Airmiles Angus Robertson, spent two weeks abroad on taxpayer-funded jaunts in the space of just six months and has wasted civil servants’ time and public money on the SNP’s independence propaganda.
If that rollcall of shame merits £20k pay rises all round, I shudder to think what John Swinney would lavish on them if they were actually up to scratch.
The First Minister has some serious explaining to do. That’s why I have written to him demanding that MSPs get the chance, on behalf of the public, to question him on his decision.
If he genuinely believes these ministerial pay deals are justified, he will want to set out his case.
If he’s the open, accountable leader he purports to be, he is duty-bound to do so.
Over to you, First Minister.
