TWO years ago Holyrood was in the middle of a long-running debate about the bedroom tax. It had been going on throughout 2013, and it continued during scrutiny of the Scottish Government’s budget in the first months of 2014.

Most of that time had been marked by displays of ranting, finger-pointing and hostility between Labour and SNP politicians, while the Tories and LibDems who had imposed the hated cuts to housing benefit sat there happily out of the line of fire.

Whichever side of that Labour/SNP divide you were sympathetic to (and yes, of course, few National readers will need much thinking time on that question) the most depressing aspect was the tribalism between them. These two parties both opposed the bedroom tax, but each had long since stopped listening to the other and each had come to regard their opponents as utterly shameless and untrustworthy. It was the Scottish Parliament at its worst.

Eventually, after long and fractious debates, and much public pressure, a deal was done. In the final days of the budget’s passage through Parliament, a proposal was developed on which everyone who opposed the bedroom tax could agree. The effect was that this pernicious policy was effectively neutralised in Scotland. Interestingly this came just a couple of days after Parliament had overwhelmingly passed legislation to create equal marriage; perhaps love was in the air, but something had certainly changed. This was a memorable moment; this was Holyrood at its best.

Now as Scotland and the UK wait to find out what George Osborne will do in the wake of the tax credits defeat in the House of Lords, we seem to be back in that toxic frame of mind. The debate held this week at Holyrood saw all those worst instincts let loose once again. Both the two biggest parties oppose the UK Government’s attack on working households. Yet throughout almost all of that debate, the vitriol on display was almost exclusively between Labour and the SNP.

Yes, I know that Labour did more than any other party to oppose the devolution of welfare during the Smith Commission. A different result there would have left us in a far stronger position. And I know also that they are trying to put a cost on a policy which hasn’t yet been announced. But to see each party using that debate merely to mock the other’s position was profoundly dispiriting and I can only imagine how someone who’s personally faced with losing a four-figure sum they cannot possibly afford would have felt if they’d been watching.

Just like the bedroom tax, this issue will be coherently addressed only when we focus on the real goal of acting in the interests of people targeted by these cuts, instead of only on the electoral goal of proving that our opponents are unworthy.

The SNP are right to say that there is still scope to oppose the tax credit cuts before they happen and that even if they do take place, we need to know the scope and pace before we can put a plan in place to respond. Labour were also right that the intent to do so should be spelled out in advance – and on that point there is actually so little difference between the two parties that the pantomime tactics are completely unnecessary. Labour are also right about not scrapping air passenger duty, but that’s one for another day. Greens have always (whether during the SNP Government or the Labour/LibDem coalition before it) tried to balance being constructive with being challenging and keeping the focus on what we’re trying to achieve rather than why “the other lot” are baddies. It’s an approach that pays off, by working with others despite our differences and being more interested in the common ground than in ideological battles. It moved the old Scottish Executive to do more on climate change and renewables, to back off from UK Labour’s authoritarian ID cards scheme and to begin to address the excessive powers of the supermarkets. It’s also an approach that helped push the current Scottish Government on home energy efficiency, on community ownership and on fracking.

This kind of politics isn’t about pretending to have all the answers. But by articulating clear principles and seeking creative solutions which can be found on the common ground despite other differences, it can achieve a lot.

That’s the approach and style I’ve come to know from my colleague Zara Kitson and one of the reasons I’m backing her bid to become our party’s co-convenor. She won’t be the only voice to bring this Green style of politics into Holyrood next year, but I think that given the chance she’ll do it superbly. Meet her on Twitter at @ZaraKitson.


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