Yet again it is a tale of two cities. In one a libertarian leader is busily scrapping Covid restrictions that are blighting people’s lives, when he is not answering questions about birthday cakes or trying to prevent the invasion of Ukraine. In the other, an authoritarian leader is seeking ways to make permanent some of the measures that, in terrifying Orwellian newspeak, Sturgeon’s deputy John Swinney describes as having had “a demonstrable benefit to the people”.
Apparently the ability of the Scottish government to lock down the population, interfere with the judicial process, close schools at the drop of a hat, release prisoners early and prevent landlords evicting bad tenants without recourse is a public good to be preserved forever. Mr Swinney describes this terrifying assault on democratic accountability as “pragmatic reform”.
It is another little turn of the ratchet securing the nationalists’ power. The SNP administration – I can’t bring myself to call them a government – started consulting on making Covid powers permanent back in August. Technically, emergency powers are reserved to Westminster, and with good reason: the Mother of Parliaments is bi-cameral with draconian safeguards against the power of the executive. Holyrood was originally set up to be “an assembly not a parliament”.
All these shenanigans could have been avoided if the Government had fought Covid under emergency powers at a UK level rather than via devolved health, justice and education powers. The SNP are seeking to make permanent emergency powers that have only been ceded to them temporarily. Burns had a word for that: sleekit.
It must be remembered that Sturgeon’s government has form in this kind of authoritarianism. We have seen attempts to impose a state guardian on every child in Scotland, restrict trial by jury, remove the separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary, restrict free speech in the home and suspend freedom of information requests.
The scary thing is that this latest effort may succeed. Westminster should tell Sturgeon that she is exceeding her powers – but they have not challenged her on flagrantly ultra vires parts of her spending programme like constitutional and foreign affairs, so they are more likely to appease by turning a blind eye. Moreover, the opposition in the Scottish Parliament is weak. For the Scottish Tories, Murdo Fraser started badly: “There may be measures in this Bill that are sensible long-term reforms.”
Meanwhile Douglas Ross’s only public utterances at the moment are to undermine the Prime Minister. The Scottish media is focused on Boris. The only hope is that some of the more sensible members of the SNP, such as Fergus Ewing, vote against the Bill.
Hope also comes from the people of Scotland. Grassroots resistance to the SNP is growing on social media. For the first time in history both Rangers and Celtic fans at football matches held up similar banners insulting the SNP. There are signs the Sturgeon cult may be turning against her Covid authoritarianism.
Jamie Blackett is co-chairman of the Alliance for Unity
