Yahoo Sports Unionists must work together to quash supposed ‘magic’ of independence
As unhappy weeks go, the last has been easily Humza Yousaf’s worst since he became First Minister. He had no honeymoon period whatsoever, for no sooner had he inherited his official New Town residence in Bute House when Nicola Sturgeon resigned than the sky fell on him.
But he should think himself lucky that things haven’t got worse, as they’ve deserved to be, thanks to a couple of staggering opinion polls which showed that support for the SNP and independence has plummeted. These should prompt the Unionist parties to put their tribal differences aside and work together to save the Union.
We also had Sir Iain Livingstone, Police Scotland’s chief constable, making it plain that he won’t tolerate any political pressure on his officers who are engaged in the biggest police investigation ever conducted in Scotland.
The chief’s warning was seen as a “hands off” to the SNP following public criticism of police tactics as a “grotesque circus” from both a former senior party official and an MSP over the way Sturgeon’s home had been searched.
Yousaf had barely become First Minister before Peter Murrell, Sturgeon’s husband and the then chief executive of the SNP, followed in double quick time by Colin Beattie, its former treasurer, were arrested as “suspects”.
Both have been released pending further inquiries into what’s become of the £600,000 donated by party members to bankroll an independence campaign which has never happened but which has since disappeared.
Moreover, things sounded ominous in a press conference this week, when Sir Iain said his force’s investigations were “continuing”.
On the political front, Yousaf had to contemplate the worst possible results since those from the independence referendum nine years ago. Back then, the defeated separatists picked up 45 per cent of the vote, but according to the latest MRP survey, they’re clocking up only 41 per cent now.
And YouGov suggested, after surveying a 3000-plus sample, that the SNP was on course to lose 27 of its 48 Commons seats. It suggested that 23 of them would go to Labour, giving a major shot in the arm to Sir Keir Starmer’s hopes of achieving an overall majority at the next election, still possible next year.
But while Unionists might take heart from this collapse in the SNP’s fortunes, surely a more realistic appraisal would ask - why on earth are things not much worse for the Nats?
After all… what have they done to deserve even those votes of people who believe that independence would make Scotland a better place? Other than the freebies - the “bribes” to the electorate - such as free university tuition, free eye tests, bus passes, and free prescriptions… every single policy has a minus mark against it.
And so, other than a sort of biblical belief in the supposed “magic” of breaking up Britain, what’s the attraction of independence?
That must be the line on which Tory, Labour and Lib Dem parties concentrate - telling the voters that if the SNP are useless at running a devolved country imagine what a mess they’d make if there was no UK government to keep them in order.
The best way of doing that would be for the three parties to do “non-aggression” deals with each other to defeat the Nats in marginal seats. Their party loyalties should be put aside to bolster the Union. If that means Tories voting Labour, and vice versa, what’s wrong with that?
A simple ‘thanks’ will do
Meanwhile, another example of the UK government saving SNP ministers from themselves has arrived in the shape of an extraordinary compromise between London and Edinburgh.
Brokered, we understand by Scottish Secretary Alister Jack, the deal would involve a new way of bringing in the bottle return scheme to avoid widespread confusion, across the UK, if the “bring your bottle back” scheme was only brought in north of the border.
The compromise would mean that, with a few amendments, what was planned by the SNP government could be a conditional pilot scheme for the rest of Britain.
Instead of being suspicious about Mr Jack’s proposal, Mr Yousaf should simply say “Thanks”.
