Scotland must be ready for a space race with the north

As ministerial visits go Treasury minister David Gauke must’ve thought he’d hit the jackpot last week when he was sent to the set of the new Star Wars film.

He was there to highlight the Government’s policy of offering tax breaks to films made in Britain.

This policy would be better illustrated by going to the set of an indie movie that otherwise wouldn’t get made, after all the $30 billion Star Wars franchise probably doesn’t need much support from hard-pressed UK taxpayers (most of whom will get stung again when they put more cash in Darth Vader’s pocket by buying a ticket when the film comes out in December).

But the Treasury press team clearly decided they’d rather have a day out snooping round the Star Wars set.

That’s understandable. It seemed a surefire publicity hit and they might get a selfie with Chewbacca.

Until Gauke tweeted that he’d been on the Death Star, giving away a key part of the closely-guarded plot and bringing down the wrath of millions of online space geeks on his head.

It left Gauke looking more Jar Jar Binks than Han Solo.

It highlighted that ministerial trips are fraught with danger and it’s the time of year many take place.

Depending on your age and inclination, Gauke’s Star Wars gig was possibly trumped by Environment Secretary Liz Truss taking in two gin distilleries in one day but the most politically pertinent outing was Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin’s trip to Bolton.

He was there to trumpet the Northern Powerhouse.

This is George Osborne’s plan to kick-start economic growth in England’s northern cities and rebalance the economy away from London.

He wants to see the likes of Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Hull and Newcastle meld together to offer an alternative to London’s economic dominance.

It’s a sign of how desperate these areas are to get on that such disparate cities are willing to set aside historic differences (usually to do with football) and not just work together but accept Manchester as their spearhead.

Key to getting them to work together is transport infrastructure linking them.

Trouble is the Government’s actions don’t match their rhetoric.

They’ve canned plans to electrify rail lines linking the northern cities while still splashing out billions on high-speed rail between London and Birmingham. Manchester’s plans for the sort of smart ticketing that makes getting around London so simple (when the Tube isn’t closed by strikes) have been sensationally screwed up. And in some sort of metaphor for the whole shebang, a giant sinkhole opened up in one of Manchester’s busiest roads on Friday causing commuter chaos.

Hence, the Transport Secretary was despatched to Bolton to demonstrate the Government’s commitment, but he was accused of simply rehashing old announcements such as spending hundreds of millions of pounds upgrading the A1 though only as far as the border.

But while the Northern Powerhouse is stuttering rather than roaring into life it should not be ignored, not least by Scotland.

For years Holyrood has been able to offer inducements and attention to investors looking to set up in the UK.

If Manchester, Newcastle or Leeds suddenly have the ability to not just match whatever goodies Edinburgh is offering but also lay on high-speed rail to the continent or better schools or even just a decent football team for employees to support (Leeds would obviously have to rely on the schools and the trains) then Scotland could suffer.

Alex Salmond once described London as the “Dark Star” of the economy that sucks in resources.

For the Scottish Government the Northern Powerhouse could turn out to be the north star lighting the way for a rebalancing of the entire UK.

Or it could yet be the Death Star destroying anywhere that challenges its ambitions.