Month: May 2026

Marie’s column in The Scotsman | Thursday 28th May 2026

John Swinney has secured his own personal mandate as he returns to Bute House after the Holyrood election. As someone who has known the First Minister for many years, I offer him my warmest congratulations.

Mr Swinney has made clear he is relishing the prospect of governing, notwithstanding the many challenges ahead. Far from being a caretaker First Minister, as some assumed, now that he is armed with his own mandate Mr Swinney seems determined to shake things up and pursue a policy agenda that is far from timid.

If that is the case, I welcome it, because Scotland is in desperate need of a shake-up. Our economy continues to flatline, with consistently sluggish growth and with not enough being done to create jobs, opportunity and prosperity.

Action on the cost of living is one thing, but what is really needed is a fundamental shift in gear and mindset which puts achieving sustainable growth for the long-term at the very top of the list of government priorities. That is the only sure way, amid the looming gap in public finances and the clear emphasis on public sector reform, to fund the public services we all need.

I believe the First Minister understands this, and if he can show that he is genuinely committed to that goal then I believe our newly elected Parliament can find real consensus despite the many differences which exist in these deeply polarised times.

However, the Scottish Government simply must grasp the nettle when it comes to North Sea oil and gas, and make clear that it does not stand in the way of using those resources for our own national benefit, both practical and economic.

It makes no sense whatsoever to be importing oil and gas from Norway which is busy, on the other side of the maritime border, pressing ahead with developing new oil and gas fields and granting licences for further exploration.

Just this month, the Norwegian Government has approved the reopening of three mothballed North Sea gas fields which were closed in 1998 but which are now set to come onstream again for the next 20 years, contributing energy supplies to Germany and the UK.  Norway also plans to access 70 blocks identified on the seabed.

The story on this side of the North Sea is a very different one. The Scottish Government’s move away from oil and gas began around a decade ago, and early signals to that effect were evident in the work of the Sustainable Growth Commission, the body set up to provide recommendations on economic policy for an independent Scotland.

I stood down from the Commission in 2017 because, even at that early phase, I was concerned about the extent to which it was clear Scotland’s oil and gas assets were being sidelined.

Let me be clear – I support investment in Scotland and the UK’s renewable energy potential as part of the move to a sustainable, green energy future.

But the drive to Net Zero cannot become a headlong rush that fails to deliver on the promised green jobs boom whilst casting thousands of workers onto the employment scrapheap in a way that echoes deindustrialisation of previous decades.

Bluntly, we have not done nearly enough to move at pace to develop renewables, and for as long as that is the case we need to continue developing the oil and gas off our shores.

Other countries take energy independence as a given. Whether it is Norway or the United States, which has made clear that a reliable domestic energy supply is essential to its national and economic security, nations around the globe understand the importance of utilising their own resources.

We should support the growth of renewables, but until we see that happening at pace and scaled up to a point at which the thousands of green jobs which have long been promised actually become a reality, oil and gas must not be abandoned.

So, while the granting of new offshore licences is not something that Holyrood can control for as long as energy remains reserved to Westminster, there is political opportunity here too for the Swinney government.

It’s clear that the current UK Government, and any of those likely to replace Keir Starmer in Downing Street, are not on the side of the offshore industry. So, the Scottish Government should make the case that if Westminster is set on turning its back on North Sea oil and gas and the sector’s workforce, Scotland won’t.

Stepehen Flynn, the former SNP leader at Westminster, said upon his election to Holyrood that the oil and gas industry would have “no greater champion” than him – that should be a mantra for the government Mr Flynn is now a part of as Economy Secretary. The arrival of another former MP, Stephen Gethins, as Energy Minister, is also significant, especially as climate and Net Zero responsibilities have been split from the energy brief.

What could better demonstrate the need for Scotland taking control of its own energy resources than a UK Westminster government which fails to stand up for an industry that has contributed countless billions of pounds in revenue over the last few decades.

So, as well as making the case for North Sea oil and gas, the re-elected Scottish Government should propose an energy regulator which works in Scotland’s national interests, reducing costs to households and to businesses.

If Westminster refuses to engage by insisting it holds the power when it comes to energy policy, it will be a political gift to the Holyrood administration.

“It’s Scotland’s Oil” was the famous SNP election slogan from more than half a century ago. John Swinney’s reshaped government could do worse than to repackage that message for our current times.

View via The Scotsman

BBC Scotland | Scottish Election 2026 | Friday 8th May 2026

Marie was delighted to join BBC Scotland’s panel of expert commentators as part of their coverage of the Scottish Parliament election results. She was able to share her insights both in terms of what Scotland’s business community would like to see from government and parliament over the next five years, as well as her thoughts on the election outcome more widely. 

You can view Marie’s contributions below. You can also view full coverage: Election 2026 Scotland – Election 2026 Scotland part 4 – BBC iPlayer

Scotland faces a decisive decade in its battle to keep pace with other economies amid the twin challenges of deindustrialization and the drive towards New Zero accelerate, it has been warned.

Delivering the keynote address at the Business Women Scotland’s Women in Finance Awards in Glasgow – on the day that voters across Scotland go to the polls – leading Scottish businesswoman, investor and philanthropist Dr Marie Macklin CBE, will also call for a more realistic and achievable route to decarbonization, including moves to approve new North Sea oil and gas fields.

Marie’s keynote to the BWS Finance Awards audience at the Crowne Plaza, Glasgow | Thursday 7th May 2026

“Growth is not the enemy or some ugly capitalist concept. Growth delivers our transformation, which in turns delivers a fairer future, noting that ambitious social interventions can only be funded by a well-functioning, dynamic economy.

“Both the UK and Scottish Governments should commit to growth and work together to deliver it rather than fight over jurisdiction during a crisis.

“The next decade will be a hugely decisive one for Scotland’s economy – and for our overall wellbeing as a nation.

“It will decide whether Scotland and the UK are reduced to the role of declining bystanders as Europe becomes a global superpower by turning its economic scale into strategic strength, in energy, technology, defence, finance and governance.

“A true superpower energy strategy requires resilient domestic generation, modernized grids, storage capacity, hydrogen infrastructure and supply chain security from critical inputs such as lithium and rare earths. It also requires accepting that energy policy is now industrial policy, security policy and foreign policy at the same time.”   

Dr Macklin will add that the GFANZ initiative of major financial institutions combining to chart a path to global Net Zero – a project which was founded at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in 2021 – has so far failed to match expectations.

“A Just Transition requires financial institutions to support the managed phase-out of stranded assets, such as the refinery at Grangemouth.

“A Just Transition also requires our governments and politicians to support Scotland’s oil and gas sector – and that means opening the likes of the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields in the North Sea now.

“In my opinion, the new Scottish Government’s first priority should be to knock on Westminster’s door seeking infrastructure funds to start driving capital and grants into the heart of forgotten industrial power houses at grassroots level and at a scalable level.

“This is the only way will we make our communities sing again. Scotland’s and the UK’s future hinges less on whether it has the resources to lead than on whether it has the political will to act like a power that intends to lead.”

Marie’s Column in The Herald | Monday 4th May 2026

Marie’s latest opinion article, carried in the Herald as part of its pre-election commentary, focusses on the twin issues of immigration and housing, and how successive decades of flawed policy have created the current housing crisis.

…

In late 1891, an outlandish collection of wagons rolled up deep in Glasgow’s East End.

Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show had come to town, and between November that year and the following February, an estimated half a million Scots had packed in to the East End Exhibition Buildings for the American’s residency, featuring the likes of sharpshooter Annie Oakley and Lakota Sioux performers.

The episode is a curious and colourful one in the history of Glasgow – and I was reminded of it for two reasons as we approach election day in Scotland on Thursday.

Firstly, how we could do with just a little of the excitement, buzz and razzmatazz which that wagon train brought, in an election campaign which has never managed to rise above lacklustre.

But secondly, it seems fitting to recount the episode given the more recent arrival of a different set of wagons in the East End.

The travelling circus this time was in the form of Reform UK, whose Scottish election campaign targeted the Tollcross area of Glasgow with banners about immigration.

Talking to voters in Scotland about small boats arriving on the south coast of England maybe isn’t as much a hard sell as it was a few years ago.

Opinion polls show that immigration has shot up the list of policy issues listed by Scottish voters as among their main concerns since the last Holyrood election in 2021.  That concern is understandable, especially when so many of our communities rely on already stretched public services and housing provision.

But the Reform banners miss the mark. They send out a negative, divisive message when they should – as all parties should – be trying to send out a positive vision of hope for our communities.

Immigration has brought huge benefits to Glasgow and other parts of Scotland over many generations, whether that has involved folk arriving on these shores from Ireland, Italy, Pakistan or any number of other places, including the Jewish refugees who fled persecution in Central and Eastern Europe and settled here. All these communities have added value to our national story.

But the fact that immigration is now more of an issue on the doorsteps across Scotland is bound up with another fundamental policy question which doesn’t get nearly enough attention – housing.

In the week when one party leader revealed he has six houses, nothing could further demonstrate the need for a renewed focus on ensuring all our communities have a decent place to call home.

And while Reform UK’s Malcolm Offord’s remarks were not the most tactful, some of the reaction from the opposite end of the spectrum also needs to be called out. The Scottish Greens’ co-leader Ross Greer has used the issue to stir up a tedious and predictable narrative which amounts to little more than the politics of envy and attacks on aspiration, and on those who know what it’s like to come from humble origins to build successful businesses, pay taxes and support charitable causes.

Mr Greer’s brand of kid-on communism won’t work in Scotland, any more than the real thing worked in the Soviet Union.

Instead, when it comes to the pressing issue of housing, we should be looking to raise our sights and address a serious national problem.

We have a housing crisis in Scotland, just as there is across the whole of the UK, and not enough is being done to address the situation.

The causes of the crisis are deep and complex, and relate to policy decisions made by all parties in power at Westminster and at Holyrood going back over many decades.

But fixing it is surely the key to resolving a whole host of other social and economic questions, including moving to a better place in the debate on immigration.

Having built affordable homes in the East End of Glasgow, I know firsthand what communities there and others like them are seeking – and it is not election campaign lip service or clickbait political slogans from left or right.

When it comes to housing, none of the parties deserve the votes of those in communities who have too often been let down and not presented with workable solutions.

The roots of the housing crisis go back generations. The UK Labour Government in the years immediately after the Second World launched a massive house building programme.

Fast-forward several decades and many of those council homes were taken out of public ownership through the Tories’ Right to Buy policy.

However, that stored up a host of problems for the future as successive UK governments not only progressively cut funding for new council houses, they also slashed money for maintaining existing homes too.

The Right to Buy also helped fuel a housing bubble, which led to the massive house price inflation we have seen over the decades since in all parts of the UK.

When housing was devolved in 1999, one of the new Scottish Parliament’s first actions was to establish a homelessness taskforce, which took forward some important work in improving life for those on the street.

But homelessness is still a problem in Scotland today, with the present Scottish Government setting up a Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group in 2017 and then declaring a housing emergency two years ago.

In short, we are still dealing with the legacy of different housing policies over many decades, which have not been joined up enough.

In my view, Right to Buy was correct, but the social policy and funding for housing have never been robust enough to deal with society’s needs.

Let’s hope this Scottish election is one which, whatever the result, sees a step forward in housing policy that sees enough quality homes being built to give hope to all our communities and those who live in them, wherever they come from.

View the column via The Herald website: Forget slogans and sideshows – Scotland’s election must focus on homes | The Herald

The Sunday Show | BBC Scotland | Sunday 3rd May 2026

Marie appeared as the first guest on BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show, the weekly current affairs and political discussion programme.

As the countdown to the Holyrood election enters its final days, Marie was interviewed by host Gary Robertson about the controversy over Reform UK Scotland leader Malcolm Offord’s recent comments regarding his personal income – and whether Scotland has the right attitude to wealth creation, entrepreneurship and success in business.

You can watch Marie’s segment below or click to watch full programme.