Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 27 January 2021
A fanatic is someone who cannot change their mind and will not change the subject. The SNP will clearly never take a referendum result against independence as the settled will of the Scottish people. For the SNP, a referendum result is acceptable only when it is the one that it wants. If it is not, the public were sadly mistaken and simply must be asked the question again and again until they get the answer right.
With the best will in the world, defeating Covid-19 is of immediate importance to Scotland’s future. I defy any MSP in the chamber to tell me that ramping up a constitutional debate should be a bigger priority for Scotland’s Government than protecting its citizens’ health and livelihoods. Of course, the SNP considers that the time is right to expend political energy and public funds on splitting up the United Kingdom, but, for the SNP, the time is always right for that.
However, when we are seeing Scotland fall behind the other nations of the UK with vaccinations and businesses large and small are struggling to secure financial support to survive, focusing on anything other than getting through the pandemic and rebuilding our economy is, quite frankly, beyond irresponsible and highlights once again that this Government cannot distinguish between national and nationalist priorities.