world and, in that respect, it created a great deal of unity around that agenda and how we have responded to it has essentially given it the platform it needs to take its course. “When the First Minister chose Campbell Christie to chair the commission he did it, because if ever there was an individual who could be identified who we didn’t need to write down what the values of Scotland were or say ‘Mr Christie this is the culture we want to protect’, then he was it. It would have been absurd to have made that point to Campbell Christie but my goodness we got it back in spades in the report. “You can deliver reform in two ways: by


confrontation or by collaboration and we opted for collaboration. Some people might say that means you are running away from confrontation, but my view is confrontation doesn’t deliver all that you would want and if you can create a body of goodwill that gets you working together with common purpose where I don’t need to be writing the manual because everyone out there is working to the same approach then we end up with a better outcome.” Tere is something emotional and essentially Scottish about what Swinney describes; a kind of caring egalitarian approach to public service delivery that Campbell Christie did embody. I wonder then how the finance secretary reacts to


accusations from Labour’s new leader, Johann Lamont, in an interview with Holyrood where she said he didn’t test his budget against issues of inequality. He reacts with an anger normally reserved for the confines of the chamber where commentators have got used to an often


“You can deliver reform in two ways: by confrontation or by collaboration and we opted for collaboration”


intimidating demeanour adopted by the normally placid Finance Secretary when his policies are criticised: “Of course I want a more equal society and completely reject that accusation. Tat to me is a knee-jerk comment that suits the argument of the Labour leader to make that point when she knows full well that there is a challenge process within government which challenges every decision we take that may have an impact on equalities. If you look at the analysis that the Scottish women’s budget group make, for example, that group will look at our budget and they will essentially


welcome the equalities test that we apply to it. Te equalities budget action group does exactly the same. Tese are external organisations and they think there is challenge on that point that is undertaken in government, so I completely reject that and, frankly, that is what people are fed up with in politics because there is the evidence staring the Labour leader in the face and she chooses to ignore that and run with an argument that says the budget ignores equality. I would not want to put a budget in place that does not apply that test and


as the budget process is running through, I am looking at a whole lot of factors: the programme of government, the environmental impact assessment, the equalities assessment, the wider impact on our wider relationships with other organisations and I am looking at whether I can get this past the government and the parliament and all these different strains are changing every day I go through the budget process and ultimately when we go to parliament we are confident that we have done right to all these different elements.” Last week Swinney’s budget was introduced


30 January 2012 www.holyrood.com 19


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