With every farther step, like announcing the Sober October, as well as facing Margaret Ferrier’s affair, Nicola Sturgeon proves once again that she is an extremely pragmatic politician – at the same time pretending to be an extremely principled person.

That was the same trick when Ms. First Minister ordered the unequivocal commitment of the SNP against BREXIT, and so is the case with COVID, when all government and propaganda forces are thrown into the stage of creating the image of the ruthless and uncompromising Holly Mother Saving the Scots’ Life. But you don’t have to be any COVID-negationist to doubt in Ms. First Minister’s policy. It’s enough to be Sturgeon-sceptic…

Because it is very naive to believe that a politician is guided by something other than his/her political interests. And it’s not about whether it is “good” or “bad”. It is just like that and it is enough to acknowledge it.

We Don’t Have Another Nation as a Replacement

What we can say about politics of the both Governments is that COVIDianism continues to heroically overcome the problems it had previously created itself… Facts are clear. Few will become infected. Even fewer people will get ill. Individuals will die. And the crisis will affect everyone. It is already obvious that further restrictions will not bring proportional effects. And it is useless to repeat that “regulations are good – only people have not grown up to them!”, because we do not have another nation for replacement. The thing we really need, that is a new strategy – how to live with COVID when we cannot beat it. And we must act now, because it’s almost too late for our economy.

We all understand the First Minister’s message, because is more than simple: “I protect you from COVID better than Westminster, and I can’t protect the economy better because London doesn’t give us our money back.” According to Ms. Sturgeon people shall understand that if so, then independence will allow us to protect ourselves from both COVID and the crisis. Sure, full agreement, absolutely true. But what if people misunderstand that as “then we can’t manage it without Westminster”? In 2014 also economic fears took away our victory in the referendum. Now Holyrood is walking on thin ice too, because it is Ms Sturgeon, not Mr Johnson, who gives a face to the destruction of Scottish jobs. In a year time, let’s hope – there will be no even COVID flashback, but a very deep crisis will be our presence. And what will happen then?

Scottish Independence vs. Cult of Personality

Excuse me brutality, but this is really simple question: what is more important – Scottish independence or the blind cult of Ms Sturgeon’s politics? We are to do whatever is needed for securing people’s safety. It is obvious. But the Government we trust has to look further, for decades and generations. Because the independence is not only for us, but especially for our children and their children, and… By giving the government such a high level of trust, we have the right to demand even more. This not only an information about COVID cases the Government should focus on. Every day brings us news about redundancies, businesses shut and going under administration. Scotland unemployment rate has risen to 4.6 per cent, that means 128,000 since March. And there is as well, as no reaction for this sad reality. The UK furlough scheme ends, replaced by the less extensive Job Support Scheme – and both are just a demoralizing economic absurdity in which taxpayers in general contribute to the bizarre scheme of nationalized wages for… abstaining from work. Neither wages nor benefits – science (economics) has never known such a phenomenon, but the level of arbitrary state intervention in the economy has never been so drastically harmful. Meanwhile, normal, honest work is simply banned over and over again. Truly, about what kind of “recovery” can we talk in such conditions?

Not a COVID Closes Businesses, but the Government

Let’s be cruelly honest – it is not COVID that closes businesses – lockdown (and its remakes under various names) does it, devastating the economy and the labour market. It is not the plague that is to blame – it is the Government! It is ridiculous that today for all these omissions in economic and tax policy are blamed only… students and pub-goers! If we are told now that we are to sacrifice ourselves to protect an inefficient NHS system – so, why do not we hear the question of who brought the national health service to such a crisis? And how it is possible, that only large corporations (trusting in their close ties with politics as well in Holyrood as in Westminster) will grow stronger on the crisis, and the costs will be passed on Scottish small and medium-sized companies, Scottish taxpayers and employees, especially young ones. Unfortunately, this only confirms that Ms Sturgeon’s Government has already shifted over to the corporate-monopoly side, abandoning Scottish entrepreneurs and betraying even its own electorate.

For Ms First Minister all her heroic fight against COVID seems to replace not only the independence program, but also the economic one. And the main problem with Ms Sturgeon’s COVID19 politics is that thanks to it (perhaps) we will have independence, but for sure with no economy at all…

So, among all these blessings, Ms Sturgeon
…sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon
Going to the candidates’ debate
Laugh about it, shout about it
When you’ve got to choose
Every way you look at this you lose…

Konrad Rekas is a contributor from
Aberdeen