David Torrance: Why nationalism alone is not enough in the context of a globalised economy. – Herald

A few days ago I saw the Dundee Rep’s impressive revival of the Cheviot,
the Stag and the Black, Black Oil.

It’s had justifiably enthusiastic reviews, and its narrative of economic
change in the Scottish Highlands from the Clearances through to the more
recent North Sea Oil boom remains topical.

SNIP

Conveniently, of course, the current moratorium on fracking will most
likely run until after next year’s Holyrood election, ensuring the SNP
doesn’t have an internal fight that might distract from securing another
overall majority. That, of course, is politics, just not the “principled”
or “new” kind of politics we’re constantly told the SNP (and now Jeremy
Corbyn) subscribe to.

Finally there are renewables. On this, to its credit, Alex Salmond and the
Scottish Government have led from the front, although its commercial
approach to wind farm development again speaks to McGrathite themes.
Instead of pursuing a community ownership model, back in 2009-11 Ministers
divided Scotland into five “lots” which were then allocated to “wind power
development partners”, multinational companies like E.ON, Fred Olsen and
ScottishPower.

SNIP