Independence only offers a progressive future if you try very hard to ignore the SNP’s policies

John Harris has chosen the week of Dr Who’s 50th Anniversary to fire up the Tardis and arrive in an alternative universe where the independence being offered by the SNP would lead the way to a more socially just Scotland.

Now, to be fair, I’ve never actually seen an episode of Dr Who, but I do know that sometimes the facts have to get in the way of a good story.

John makes his case that an independent Scotland could be “something better” without doing much to analyse what is actually being offered by the Nationalists. The idea that it could be “something worse” doesn’t seem to have bothered him enough to write much about.

I want to help John out with two examples for him to think about: something the SNP would do in a separate Scotland, and something they would fail to do. If John still thinks this is the path to a fairer Scotland, then fair enough, but from my limited vantage point of knocking on doors with my local Party in Midlothian, I don’t think many people will agree with him.

On Corporation Tax, the SNP’s avowed policy is to cut harder and faster than George Osborne could ever dream of. You don’t “leave behind the Conservative Party” by cutting tax for big businesses and leaving the rest of us to pick up the tab.

As Scottish Labour’s Deputy Leader, Anas Sarwar said: “While the SNP tax cuts mean bigger bonuses for bankers and bigger profits for energy companies the rest of us will have to pay the price of less money for schools, less money for the NHS and higher taxes”.

The reality is that while the IFS is telling us that an independent Scotland would need to cut spending or increase tax, the SNP are blithely planning a giveaway to the biggest firms. They would create a race to the bottom that we would all end up paying for.

This is the uncomfortable truth for the SNP: they talk left but act right. Think of their flagship policies. Which of them have been targeted at reducing inequality? Their unfunded Council Tax freeze leaves local authorities scrabbling to make ends meet and cutting vital services for those that need them the most.

The reality is that the SNP are economic conservatives who want to reward Starbucks and Amazon with extra handouts, while expecting taxpayers – who are already feeling squeezed – to sign the cheques.

And what about taking on the Big Six energy firms to freeze bills and help ease the cost of living crisis? Ed Miliband will do exactly that when he leads the next Labour Government in the UK – but in an independent Scotland, Alex Salmond would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with David Cameron and refuse to challenge these companies.

John Harris might not register these failings when he considers whether the SNP would really deliver a fairer Scotland, but the people we speak to on the doorsteps and street-stalls certainly do.

In fact, John has stumbled into a recurring truth of this debate: independence only offers a progressive future if you try very hard to ignore the SNP’s policies. The reality is that if you want a socially just Scotland – with no bedroom tax, no race to the bottom on big business tax cuts and a freeze on energy bills – the best way to deliver it is to vote No and vote Labour.

Kenny Young is Vice Chair of Midlothian North & Musselburgh CLP and a former adviser to Ed Miliband