Should Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf course host the Open in the next few years? The US President is golf-daft, and yet the top-level Scottish course hasn’t been home to a major since he bought it in 2014.
The politics of such a decision manage to be both simple and complex. First Minister John Swinney has, sensibly, said he wants to work with the Trump administration to enhance Scotland’s interests. He recently met Eric Trump, the President’s son, at Bute House, where the pair discussed the family’s business interests in Scotland.
As world leaders have learned, Trump senior appreciates nothing more than flattery and obeisance. If you want something from him, you have to give him something in return – the art of the deal.
Handing the Open to Turnberry would, therefore, be an easy win and play to the President’s Scottish heritage. His mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, was born in 1912 in Pebbledash Croft House in the village of Tong on the Isle of Lewis, and her first language was Gaelic. Following his victory in the 2016 election, Trump said that “I love Scotland. One of the biggest problems I have in winning, I won’t be able to get back there so often.”
But there is, of course, the unavoidable downside. Such a decision would not be uncontroversial, to say the least. Trump was unpopular in Scotland even before the brutal measures that have defined his second term so far. Even moderates would have to hold their noses. The left would spontaneously combust. There would be protests, and perhaps significant security issues.
But such is politics. A Palmerstonian approach could be taken: “We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.” Trump is the most powerful man in the world governing the most powerful country in the world, making decisions that affect every person on earth. Do you play the ball as it lies or refuse to enter the clubhouse on a point of principle? If the former, then Trump is set to visit Scotland later this year to open his new course in Aberdeenshire – could that be an opportunity to give him what he wants?
This is a question of soft power – of using Scotland’s cultural assets to advance our interests. The British Council defines it as building “a country’s… attractiveness and influence through culture, public diplomacy and positive global contribution.” In straitened fiscal times, and in an uncertain, fast-changing world, soft power is arguably more important than ever to national and economic security.
David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, understands this. On taking office last year he and Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, created the Soft Power Council, an advisory board that will shape the UK government’s strategy in this area. Its membership includes the great and good from the sectors of arts, sport, media, heritage and education – all areas in which Britain could be said to be a soft power superpower.
This strikes me as a smart move, and one that should have an echo north of the Border. At a recent event I chaired with Ian Murray, the Scottish Secretary, he announced the launch of a Scottish Growth Commission, which he will jointly run with Kate Forbes, the Scottish Government’s Deputy First Minister and Economy Secretary. Why not create a joint soft power commission to shape and co-ordinate how Scotland sells itself to the world? One of Murray’s key focuses for the Scotland Office is building “Brand Scotland”, and such a step would fit neatly into that agenda.
Alongside, say, Ireland and Israel, Scotland is a small nation with an outsize history and impact on the world. Since the 18th Century Enlightenment, there have been vast achievements in science, politics, business, literature, music, economics, sport and more. Its universities retain a global reputation as centres of excellence. It has a loyal and emotionally connected diaspora in every corner of the planet. Tourism is one of its major income drivers. It is – or should be – a world leader in the renewable energy revolution. For all the criticism of how Holyrood has been run in recent times, and an internal sense of decline, it retains something of a global glow.
A report by the British Council agrees with all this. It argues that in a precarious international climate, “Scotland will need a strong approach to shaping its own global narrative that sets out what it has to offer the international community… and with that narrative in place, Scotland will need to tell its story loud and clear to raise its profile among international audiences. A mastery of soft power is paramount for devolved governments hoping to make an impact on the global stage.”
Looking at 10 devolved areas, the Council ranked Scotland’s “soft power score” second only to Quebec and ahead of Catalonia and Flanders.
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader and the only credible challenger to Swinney as a potential first minister, has talked about boosting Scotland’s soft power, in particular learning lessons from the Irish by maximising connections to the diaspora. “We have spent the last 17 years selling Scotland to the Scots,” he told me. “We’ve forgotten how to sell Scotland to… the rest of the world.”
The inward focus that was driven by the constitutional debate has abated for now. It is indeed time to sell Scotland to the rest of the world. That audience includes, for better or worse, the troublesome Mr Trump.
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