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THE Roman philosopher Marcus Aurelius said you should “love the hand that fate deals you and play it as your own”.
Whatever First Minister John Swinney might think of US president Donald Trump, it would seem he adopted this mindset when he visited him this week to discuss whisky tariffs.
He could’ve sulked in a corner about Trump being back in the White House and proposing to slap 10% tariffs on Scotland’s precious national drink, but what good would it really do?
Instead, he took a diplomatic approach, accepted Trump for who he is, and did his best to connect with him. Control the controllables.
Swinney told journalists on Wednesday he had no intention of presenting a “sob story” to Trump. Instead, he set matters out in a way which would be meaningful to the president, and we all know that what the man likes is a deal.
Swinney said he spelled out that the more whisky Scotland can produce, the more bourbon barrels – which whisky is generally aged in – will be required.
Unlike whisky, which is usually made by putting spirit into a barrel that has already been used for maturation, bourbon is made using a virgin oak cask and once that cask has been used, it cannot be used again for making bourbon, and so off to Scotland it goes.
Like fish need water, the industries survive because of each other.
Now many of you might see this as Swinney cosying up to Trump, and that view is entirely understandable.
But the other way of looking at it is that Swinney has been the ultimate diplomat here and made Scotland look very capable of standing on its own two feet.
He emphasised repeatedly that he felt whisky was not on the president’s agenda when he came to visit Scotland in July, and Swinney has since changed that. If the UK can manage to swing a deal from here – as it is in now in their hands – he would deserve some credit. If they don’t, he then has ammo in his back pocket he can use against Westminster.
But all that said, even if Scots can see the positives in this meeting, many will be left with a bittersweet feeling. Swinney may have carried himself well with Trump and may have contributed hugely to a better outcome for Scotch whisky, but from here it is ultimately out of his hands.
The UK Government is in full control when it comes to trade. Swinney can lay the foundations, but it is up to Keir Starmer to build the house. And that is a bitter pill to swallow.
For Swinney has proven here that when Scotland is given the chance, it is more than capable of holding its own on the world stage.
If only Scotland was independent, then it could prove it again and again.
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