THE Scottish Government has an opportunity for a new economic direction, and the key is to focus on resilience.

Things simply must change.

Until we become independent, the Scottish Government must focus on making Scotland more resilient. Scotland is already seeing the negative impacts of climate change and changing global power dynamics, and it must react to them. The Scottish government must focus on food and energy security/sovereignty.

Resilience takes three forms: We must have more power, our economy must be more diverse, and it must be more equal.

Power: Resilience is built by owning and controlling the main factors of production. We must have more control of land and its use. The Scottish government and local authorities must support a variety of business models, including community land trusts and social enterprises.

We are more resilient when we have more of a say in Scotland’s economy. Earlier this year, we identified three Scotland-specific challenges: the high levels of foreign ownership among Scottish industries, the low proportion of UK companies headquartered in Scotland, and the large annual outflow of capital. Any new administration must address these structural weaknesses.

Diversity: Resilience also comes from having a variety of possible solutions. We must move away from the centralised institutions and markets that dominate Scotland and the UK. A prime example would be the power of the large supermarkets in Scotland. None of them are based in Scotland, and yet we have effectively outsourced our whole food supply chain to these foreign-based, profit-driven multinationals. The same can be said about our energy supply.

To become more resilient, a new administration must devolve power, especially tax-raising power, to local authorities with more flexibility to levy taxes on specific land uses and landowners. Money raised at the local level is not syphoned off via the block grant. This tax is levied in Scotland and stays in Scotland. With these extra funds, local authorities should be supported to enhance their resilience.

Finally, a more balanced economy in terms of income and wealth is a much more resilient one.

All of the above chimes with the wellbeing economy, and none is too radical or controversial. Would any candidate for FM argue with the substance of any of this?

Scotland's economy needs direction. The idea of a resilient, wellbeing economy might unify a party and a nation and create the type of economy most of us want.

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