'Hope and Despair' is the appropriate title of Neil Findlay's new book covering the last few years of his time as an MSP. It was politically tumultuous from the aftermath of Brexit and Theresa May in 2017 to Boris Johnson in 2021. As a Scottish Labour MSP, the period began with socialist leaders in Scotland and the UK, fatally undermined internally and externally. But, of course, none of this avoids Neil's trenchant commentary!
The book takes the form of a diary, which describes and comments on the events of the period he was involved in. I was closely involved with many of the same events, and the book contains incidents I had forgotten about or often wished I had!
It starts with the successful campaign to get Richard Leonard elected. The book is full of where Neil feels Richard got it wrong and when he got it right. However, in the main, it details the appalling behaviour of some MSPs in this period, ‘the more private a meeting or report, the quicker it is leaked.’ So bad that many MSPs did all they could to avoid Parliamentary Group meetings. As Neil puts it, 'dominated by the most negative people you will ever come across.' Neil also wasn't a big fan of his local council leadership, like so many, dominated by council officers rather than taking political control of issues. Neil was often described as 'Jeremy Corbyn's man in Scotland'. He certainly did admire the Labour Leader but wasn't slow to tell him when he got it wrong. He also covers the many efforts from the Labour right wing to undermine him.
He covers many of the debates in the Scottish Parliament during this period, focusing on the causes he was most associated with. I say debates because Neil was among the few MSPs who could debate. I recall taking a group of UNISON Stewards to Parliament one day. They all commented that most MSPs just read out prepared speeches, and only Neil and Murdo Fraser actually debated. There is little I admire about Westminster, but I agree with Neil that the committee system and some backbenchers demonstrate a degree of independent thought that you rarely see at Holyrood.
Neil was clearly happiest as a backbencher championing the causes he pursued with a tenacity rarely seen in Parliament. The transvaginal mesh scandal, miners' justice, social care, and drug policy come up time and time again. Even though he was a list MSP, local concerns around jobs and services pour out of every page. This was a tough period for his family as well, not least his wife Fiona's health and his mother in a care home during the pandemic. Neil was understandably critical about the way older people were treated throughout COVID.
Neil Findlay is one of those rare elected politicians. He is a working-class guy from a community devasted by deindustrialisation who never planned to be a politician. That sense of community comes through every page of this book, as do his socialist principles. As he puts it, 'It is about what you feel, your outlook on life, your sense of community and the culture you are immersed in.' We could do with more Neil Findlays in Parliament. Sadly, we are likely to see less in the current political culture.
This isn’t a cheery book as the title suggests, although it has a certain black humour in places. However, it was time well spent reading. He ends, as all socialists should, with optimism, ‘live in hope and have a belief that tomorrow will always be better than today.’
