Wednesday, October 13, 2021

The curious Britishness of the pro-independence Scottish Government

Reading through the account in the Guardian of the report into the UK's catastrophic failings in the early weeks of the pandemic, I initially got the impression that the ludicrous fiction that there was never any herd immunity policy was being maintained.  But thankfully no.  The distinction being drawn is simply that the authorities didn't necessarily believe that mass infection was desirable, but thought that any other outcome was impossible and so 'fatalistically' decided to give up on trying to stop the virus and instead merely managed the supposedly 'inevitable' herd immunity process.  The report makes clear that all the governments of the four nations of the UK wholeheartedly adopted this approach in the early stages, leading to a large number of wholly avoidable deaths.  This won't be news to those of us who followed the antics of the Scottish Government's National Clinical Director Jason Leitch during his Grand Complacency Tour of the TV and radio studios in February and March 2020.  Instead of offering much-needed information about how the public could play their part in stopping the virus in its tracks, he was propagandising for total and abject surrender.  All that was left for us, he explained, was to form an orderly queue and wait patiently for our turn to catch the virus, so that mass infection happened slowly enough to ensure the NHS wasn't overwhelmed - a contradiction in terms, as it turned out.

The fact that the Scottish Government got it so badly wrong during those crucial weeks is an uncomfortable truth for the independence movement, which explains why many Yes supporters are still in denial about it.  Some still defend the indefensible by suggesting that Leitch and co were simply following the science as it was then, and that the science subsequently changed.  Frankly, that is complete rubbish.  Leitch was explicitly rejecting the clear advice of the world-leading WHO experts, which was to test every suspected case, to trace the contacts of anyone who tested positive and to isolate them.  Crucially, the WHO had established that coronavirus did not behave like flu - the speed of transmission was not rapid enough to make suppression through contact tracing impossible, as the experience in both China and South Korea was demonstrating before our eyes.  The British scientific advisers, though, were in love with their own sense of resignation, and simply refused to believe this growing body of evidence.  Newspapers were briefed with gibberish about how the virus was supposedly just 'hiding away' in South Korea, implying that the country's apparent success in suppressing the virus was illusory.

In a nutshell, then, there was world science and there was British science, and the Scottish Government plumped for British science without a moment's hesitation.  That perhaps isn't a surprise as far as the civil service aspect is concerned, because ultimately people who work for the Scottish Government are part of the UK civil service and have to serve two masters.  But as for ministers themselves? Why would the leading members of the Scottish National Party "think British, not global" at the most critical moment of government decision-making since the Second World War? Ultimately, that is why this episode is even more uncomfortable for unionism than it is for the independence movement, because the only possible lesson to draw is that the Scottish Government did make a terrible error, and that error was to be too slavishly loyal to the British state, to the British system, and to the myth of British exceptionalism.  As soon as we departed from UK government policy, the situation improved markedly.

Curiously, though, I'm not sure even the SNP leadership themselves have fully learned that lesson.  They still seem to instinctively prefer a Westminster-led 'Four Nations' approach wherever possible, including on oil, of all things.  There are also some symbolic giveaways of the underlying attitudes behind all this, for example the comments from Nicola Sturgeon about how it was so exciting to have Emma Raducanu to support in the way that we've always supported Andy Murray.  Now, I totally understand being excited by Emma Raducanu as an individual player - she's a sensation who may well go on to dominate women's tennis for the next decade.  But if you bracket her with Andy Murray, and say those are the two players who excite you, and imply that it's because of something they have in common, then that something can only really be that they're both...British.  Which implies that you regard yourself as British and feel a strong loyalty to Britain as a country.  Maybe I'm missing something here, but I'm not sure what that could be.

24 comments:

  1. See also Nicolas continued referring to 'the country' when it's the UK / GB.
    To be independent first you have to think independently.

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  2. Absolutely spot on article James. Thanks for telling it as it is. You are not missing anything.

    It's about time the independence movement opened their eyes and looked at the facts. Not what they wish the facts to be.

    Just because Scotland did better than England re Covid does not make it a great success. It's like saying the Faroes are doing better than Moldova at World cup football qualifying so the Faroes are great. No the Faroes are not great they are second bottom in the table. If you compare Scotland to other countries re Covid the reality is that no we did not do well. Sturgeon, like Blair used to be, is good at presentation (acting). Although Covid infections are high and people are still dying the daily Covid Queen briefings have stopped. Is it too cynical to suggest that this is because the May election is done and dusted?

    The four nations approach is devolution is unionism is Sturgeon and is unnecessary Covid deaths. To be in lock step with a clown like Johnson - take it on the chin - people will die be prepared - let the bodies pile up - is a crime against the Scottish people. Johnson showed his true face during Covid. Sturgeon kept hers well hidden ( although it came to the fore on a few occasions when she tore in to Salmond. )

    Just like with independence there was a Covid charade taking place whereby Sturgeon would deviate a bit from London and the Britnat media/politicians would scream why are we not doing the same as London. There wasn't much different just enough to allow the charade to take place.

    Meanwhile in other news Sturgeon has been voted the most influential women in the UK. The unthinking numpties will lap this up. Sturgeon is probably thinking why did I not get the UN job that went to Hancock. Answer - Johnson wants to keep you in place as FM.

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    1. Many African countries are still not tolerant of homosexuality.
      Perhaps Hancock will be better suited? 😊

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  3. I have noticed, and been bothered by, something really simple the Scottish Independence supporters keep doing. Ignoring that you at STILL ALL BRITS! I don't get it. You all keep being astonished that you aren't free. Do you read slave stories and day " by golly, why does that black guy from Africa not just get up and leave that plantation in Georgia and head West for some nifty farm land?" You are a subservient people who refused to VOTE for freedom. Other countries fought and died for freedom. Look at South Africa. You are all " boo hoo , Salmond was picked on" .. really! Go look up what happened to Biko, Mandela...in the USA - Nathan Hale etc. Stop blaming the SNP or NS it whoever for not controlling your " border" or whatever. You DO NOT have one. If the discover more oil in Glasgow tomorrow, they will wells in the city square, pump it out and use the $$ to build houses in England. If you want a free country, fight for it and stop fighting each other. It's sad . I came to this site for polling analysis. I found Eurovision! Yeah! But I am not Scottish. My wife is descended from Scots. But it's sad watching people say they are " fighting fir independence" when you are just slaves on a plantation bickering over who licks the masters boots more. And you are white. Big effin deal. 60+ countries left the shackles of the ENGLISH. Try it. You will like it. But until you do,stop complaining that your local puny little government apparatus follows the English lead. They have to. Cuz the English Rule you! Go play " the Viking song" by led zeppelin.

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    1. In fairness to Bill, he makes a valid point.

      I've long thought that the UK is not, and has never been, about to play nice. The political route to independence seems tortuously slow. It seems to have taken us three decades to get vaguely close to the conclusion that could have been reached via an hour or two's discussion over a few pints. I've been voting for independence for about 35 years now, and I don't think I've got another 35 years left in me whilst we argue over how many nationalists can dance on the head of a pin.

      Seems to me that there are really no democratic routes to independence left open so maybe it's time to actually earn the label 'Uppety Jocks'?

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    2. You must admit though James, he's got a point. It's time we Scots stopped sitting at our keypads moaning, and started getting on to the streets. Thousands gathered every weekend in front of Bute House loudly making our wishes heard might start to get the ball rolling.

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    3. Well said BillfromBoston. If you want something bad enough you have to fight for it. NS has either lost the will or never had it in the first place, too lackadasical and half hearted approach and its been that way for years now. Another takeaway is the Gender Recognition and Hate Crime Acts which are straight out of the New World Order playbook. She is a placeholder, talk the talk but dont walk the walk until support for indy has fallen enough so you lose another one. Bojo will grant a S30 when it is least favourable and indy will be gone, full assimilation into the Borg of the British NWO will be your fate. No escape possible.

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  4. With the furlough payments stopped, there's little reason why we shouldn't diverge from the four-nations approach... except where we still can't, such as international travel where we are subject to Johnson's ideological insistence on "letting the economy rip", or more accurately limp faster.

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  5. The Scotland / England border is totally porous, and part of the Scottish Government's fatalism is a realisation that Scotland couldn't go it alone with England being 10 times the size. And the same applies to finances where the NHS may be separate in Scotland but vast amouns of money is pumped through the Westminster-controlled Scottish Office.
    I totally agree about the message Leitch and other were pumping out early on. I read the original articles not the guff that appeared in the press. It was obvious that an early lockdown was unlikely to eliminate the virus, but was likely to control cases, control deaths, buy time until jabs were available. Instead of which we had an epidemic and only then (retrospectivelyy) imposed lockdown. Not good planning either in Westminster or Holyrood.

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  6. Spot on again James. They’ll do their best to hide the true story of early pandemic. People have short memories and they may get away with it.

    As for Sturgeon, I just don’t think she believes in independence any more, it’s a simple as that. Bleak times.

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    1. I'm not convinced she ever truly believed in independence. As Jimmock says below, she panicked at the thought of it in 2015 and has been backtracking ever since. She talks the talk but has never walked the walk (unless it was at a Pride parade). Today's SNP is full of woke entryists and more like the Stonewall Needs Party. It has become a vehicle for NS to re-shape society in her own image, hence her adoption of the odious Patrick Harvey. Independence, whether by referendum or plebiscite election, is dead in the water under her so-called 'leadership'.Unless we take Bill from Boston's advice and riot in the streets we're going nowhere for the next decade or more.

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  7. Nicola and her cult are conning the voters bigtime. Every “legal” route to independence will be closed off by Westminster. The route they cannot close is the U.K. general election and she let that one slip in 2015. The 56 seat landslide gave her a fright and that is why in 2017 there was little independence campaigning. The next general election campaign has to be all out independence followed by a Declaration of Independence.

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  8. Excellent article. You possibly miss the corrosive effect of an overwhelmingly pro-Union media. Ignore the fact that legislation for the (belated) lockdown was reserved and awaited Westminster's approval, and imagine for a moment if the SNP Government had just decreed it's own more radical and aggressive lockdown. The hate, venom and "divisive" tirades that would have rained down from WM, the BBC and all the other usual suspects would have been relentless.

    At core the ScotGov are scared of the media response, and sadly this controls them and makes them more timid than they should be.

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    1. So what if there was vicious criticism? The media attacked her anyway. The public were strongly in favour of stricter measures early on, and if deaths had been kept significantly lower than in England, people would have celebrated it and her.

      The idea that it was impossible to do more because Westminster is in control was naïve. The SNP should be constantly testing the limits of devolution, and this was an obvious opportunity. As a public health measure, they were able to control movement in and out of our local authorities, so why not entry to D&G or Borders from the south? Why not cover entry by air?

      A full lockdown might have been tough given financial restrictions, but other measures were possible and popular, never mind right and proper. Sturgeon's fear of rocking the boat cost lives AND weakened the arguments for independence. The latter matters less in a pandemic, but given that doing the right things would have been more popular than what was done, it's both baffling and heartbreaking that she didn't really try.

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    2. Kenny, I agree with all you say in your post apart from " it's both baffling....."

      I don't think it is baffling because Sturgeon is a devolutionalist and that means a Unionist.

      It was certainly heartbreaking that she didn't really try.

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  9. It was what made me start to really doubt Nicola Sturgeon ending with me quitting the SNP and joining ALBA the following January.

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  10. This is the type of nonsense you get from the numpty Sturgeon is a messiah followers.

    1. Alba are insignificant. The 1.7% party. The public rejected them. The public don't know who they are. The public hate Salmond. etc etc.

    2. Alba are splitting the the yes movement. It's all Albas fault we are not independent. It's all Albas fault there is no referendum. It's all Albas fault the polls for yes are only at 50% Everything is Albas fault. etc etc

    Anyone with a brain cell can see that if Alba are insignificant they cannot be the problem. So 1. above contradicts 2. above but still the numpties pump out their idiotic nonsense based on a weird and unhealthy relationship with a politician they see as a messiah.

    Alba is the solution not the problem. The problem is the unthinking numpties and their "I'm with Nicola" worship.

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    1. Another example is this:

      1. Alba are insignificant because they have not got a candidate standing in an election.

      2. Alba are criticised for splitting the independence vote if they do have a candidate standing.

      Funny how the numpties never criticise the Greens in the same way. It looks like the numpties are running scared of Alba. Vote Alba - the true party for Scottish independence. Sturgeon and Harvie will never deliver independence. If you keep supporting Sturgeon you have only yourself to blame when there is no independence.

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  11. Nicola Sturgeon and her party continue to prop up the british establishment.

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  12. Falkirk South by election (Falkirk Council)

    SNP GAIN from Labour.

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  13. COP26 in GLASGOW

    For all those independence supporters who say international support is critical anyone want to tell us what Sturgeon is planning to do during this worldwide exposure in Glasgow to promote Scottish independence.

    Sturgeon is more interested in promoting herself and to some numpties that means she is promoting independence.

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  14. Derek Bateman tweets that Sturgeon has London wetting themselves. Aye because they are laughing so much about the numpties still worshipping her.

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  15. What pro Indy SG???????????????????????????????

    My brain just blew up!!!!!

    It Hasn't been pro Indy since Sturgeon became FM.

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