FERGUS EWING: ‘Causes for celebration are fairly few and far between in political life’
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Date: 7th March, 2024… location: The Grant Arms Hotel, Grantown
The Grant Arms Hotel function room had never been so full. The adjoining sitting room was also packed, and people were even standing in the “birdsong” corridor which leads to the hotel entrance.
Around 300 local people attended the public meeting to show their support and to save the Grantown Health Centre Project - a victim of nationwide capital cuts made by the Scottish Government.
The mood that night was an admixture of concern and anger and the tension of pent-up frustration was palpable. You could have , as they say, cut it with a knife.
Earlier that day I had obtained a briefing from GP Dr Catriona Clubb and Elisa de Lazzari, the practice operations manager.
A written briefing had been issued a week before but I wanted to be absolutely clear on certain facts and events .
Learning lessons in life can take a long time. When a mere whippersnapper of 37 years of age, I had learned a key lesson from the legendary Scottish MP Tam Dalyell when I asked him what his advice was for a young candidate.
“The key thing is this:” he said, slowly… “When running any campaign - first get your facts right!”
It was clear from that briefing from Kathy and Lisa that the key argument in this campaign would be pretty straightforward:
You don't need to be a financial guru or construction expert to ‘get’ that it’s a false economy to halt a building project that’s nearly finished. Putting it in simple terms: It was bonkers, unjustifiable and would end up costing far more in taxpayers cash.
So the task of the campaign was to prove that if the Grantown Health Centre project remained cancelled, it would be a false economy.
The job to be done was to identify, then quantify and establish an evidential basis for, each of several individual elements of extra costs that would directly arise from the project’s cancellation.
What we had to do was to prove that the cumulative additional costs would exceed the £500,000 of work that remained to be done to complete the construction project.
It was at the Grant Arms that night crystal clear to me, that the 300 people there wanted to leave the meeting with a sense of purpose - a setting out of the way ahead.
They wanted a clear lead, a simple message and an outline campaign plan. It was also clear what they absolutely did not want.
And that was cheap personal political attacks, blame assignment ( the droopy mantra of -’it wasnae me’), name calling or other lame political excuses and tired rhetoric.
So it was that I undertook in a short speech at the end of the public meeting to promise to campaign to overturn the decision; and to do so on an entirely non-political cross-party basis mentioning that my colleagues Ed Mountain and Rhoda Grant and I all worked together routinely, and I was entirely confident we would do so for the Grantown Health Centre.
My job, I pledged, was to stand up for the local people, and not toe any party line.
If my constituents had wanted a door mat , they would have gone to B&Q! I also impressed upon the NHS Highland representatives at the meeting that there was a real need for speed. Everything must be done at marching pace.
Yes - the Scottish Government capital budget had been reduced by four percent. But no - it made no sense to cancel a project nearly completed.
Governments can always find £500,000 out of a budget of £60 billion. Of course they can.
Other NHS Highland projects like the Belford Hospital Campaign in Lochaber were essential too but work there had not yet begun and there were no others in NHS Highland that, like Grantown, were nearly finished.
A distinction could therefore be drawn between them and ours, and no slur was meant or criticism implied of any other community seeking improved facilities locally. Quite the opposite.
Shortly after the meeting, both Ed and Rhoda, neither of whom had been able to attend the meeting, came on board.
The very next week we held a strategy conference call with GP Al Miles and practice general manager, Kathy Cockman; Richard MacDonald, deputy estates manager; and Fiona Davies the (brand) new CEO of NHS Highland.
The tasks of working out the extra cost of each element was divvied up and I then sought an urgent meeting for all the team with the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Neil Gray.
We were offered one but not till 18th April. That was simply going to be too late.
Immediately we sought an earlier date- as Morrisons the contractors would have been forced to withdraw from the site - adding hugely to the costs.
Often belt and braces are required so I contacted Neil personally as well as through his Civil Service team stressing the vital need for an earlier meeting. Thankfully, he quickly offered 27th March.
When we met then, Richard and Al summarised the facts on each of the extra costs, and Ed and Rhoda reminded the Cabinet Secretary of promises made to the people of Grantown back in 2015.
In summing up, Neil said his decision would be on the basis of the facts and evidence.
Thanks to the industry of Richard, Al and Kathy, we had provided Neil with the detailed written case before the meeting so both he and his officials had a chance to study it before discussing with us.
The groundwork thus laid, the plan executed and the case put forward, it was now over to the Health Secretary for a result.
Like so many other campaigns, the effort comprised one per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration.
It was on late Thursday afternoon of 4rth April that Neil phoned me with the good news. He was restoring the funding.
I then informed the practice, the MSPs and Richard at NHS Highland — who quickly confirmed , for the avoidance of doubt - that Morrisons would be able to restart .
We briefed the local press and media that positive news would be announced on Monday 8th - including the Strathy who had consistently led the coverage from the start, and who have kindly agreed to carry this first person account of the campaign.
Date: April 8th… location: Grantown Health Centre
Causes for celebration are fairly few and far between in political life, so it was with great pleasure that Rhoda, Ed and I all attended the health centre yesterday to greet and thank the staff and others for their support.
Yes - the decision should never have been made in the first place to withdraw funding; but at least the Cabinet Secretary had the guts and gumption to do the right thing. For that we are all truly grateful.
As for the campaign: it went as planned. Not only were we able to “get the facts right” but also to work together without party political bickering which so many find as off-putting as it is usually futile.
The campaign team of MSPs, the GP practice and, in effect, NHS Highland were thus able to focus solely on putting forward the essential evidence needed to show that the decision taken was flawed and must be overturned.
That was what we did and had set out to do.
Because the team worked so well together, it was really not difficult. Maybe there are wider lessons to be drawn from this for the world of politics?
The last word though must go to the people who turned out on a dreich dark March evening to stand up for their local health provision in their own corner of Scotland and to the countless others who wrote to the Health Secretary expressing their concerns and anger.
Had they not bothered, we would not have succeeded.
People turning up and speaking out made the essential difference. It showed that this campaign mattered, that the local people cared and cared deeply for their local health services.
The victory was theirs and was created by them.
It may be a bit corny, but it reminded me of the moral of the famous Frank Capra film “It’s a Wonderful LIfe.”
So through the columns of our truly local paper, the Strathy, for that magnificent community effort, let us offer sincere thanks.
• Fergus Ewing (SNP) is MSP for Inverness and Nairn
