Scotland

Among the exhibits in Edinburgh university’s famous anatomical museum are the bones of ‘Bowed Joseph’, a notorious 18th century rabble-rouser who could allegedly assemble a crowd of 10,000 by beating his drum. He was ‘bowed’ because Joseph had rickets, a disease that ravaged Scotland’s working classes until the middle of the last century. Rickets is a disease of poverty, caused by poor diet and lack of sunlight and it is back, to the shame of the Scottish government. Cases have risen 33 per cent from 354 in 2018 to 442 last year. Well, poverty is caused by Tory austerity, say SNP MSPs and nationalists on social media. This shows why Scotland must free itself from the toxic yoke of the Union. But wait a minute.

It's a tough time for Scottish nationalists these days. Polling for indyref2 remains static while the SNP's own ratings have tanked. There are still no ferries or any sign of a workable bottle return scheme. And the Dear Leader has left the stage to be replaced by hapless Humza Yousaf: the biggest downgrade since Ian Blackford succeeded Charles Kennedy. So no wonder then that the National – a self-identifying newspaper in breach of the Trade Descriptions Act – is forced to look elsewhere to make its case for independence. In their zest to cast off the British yoke, the hard-of-thinking editorial team have stumbled on a brilliant idea: why not study the 65 countries that left the British Empire and how they became independent?

Oh dear. Hapless Humza Yousaf has tripped up again. The flailing First Minister of Scotland was today asked by Radio Clyde News if he will be watching the Women’s World Cup final on Sunday between England and Spain. Yousaf initially enthusiastically declared that ‘I will be watching the game for sure’. Yet when the reporter asked: ‘But you’ll not necessarily be cheering them on?’ a clearly irritated Yousaf immediately changed his mind and began to backtrack: Cheering them on – if you wish. I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with who I’ll be cheering on. I'm not even sure if I'll be able to watch the game or not be able to watch the game, given that I’m busy on Sunday. If I do get to watch the game I wish both teams the best of luck. Graceless as ever.

At last, a target Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf should have no trouble meeting. Waiting lists? The attainment gap? Dualling the A9? Of course not. Humza Yousaf says his forthcoming government reset can be expected to 'p**s people off'. When it comes to annoying people the First Minister is a veritable virtuoso. He has certainly irritated many in the SNP with his insistence on perpetuating the controversial alliance with the Scottish Green party.   Mr Yousaf clearly knows what side he’s on; unfortunately, Scottish voters are increasingly on the other side Yousaf is quite serious though.

Is First Minister Humza Yousaf at risk of sacrificing crucial SNP votes by refusing to ditch his party’s coalition with the Greens? That’s what a growing number of nationalist politicians are worried about. This week, the Bute House Agreement (a framework between the two parties that allows them to govern together) came under criticism from the SNP’s own politicians – and the party is as divided as ever over what to do about them.  The party’s relationship with the Greens needs to be examined, SNP backbenchers believe – and Fergus Ewing and Kate Forbes have gone so far as to call for a party member vote on the Bute House Agreement.

Tony Blair famously regretted his government's introduction of freedom of information laws. 'You idiot. You naive, foolish, irresponsible nincompoop. There is really no description of stupidity, no matter how vivid, that is adequate. I quake at the imbecility of it,' he wrote in his memoirs. Blair complained that FOI is not used by 'the people' but by journalists as a mallet to beat the government over the head with. But in recent years in Scotland, FOI has at times been used by the public to reveal critical information the SNP administration at Holyrood would rather keep secret. An extraordinary FOI response was published this week, outlining secret advice on the prospects for an independent Scotland joining the EU.

Uh oh. Following a rowdy bust up with the SNP’s chief whip Brendan O'Hara, the party establishment has now chosen to expel Angus MacNeil MP. MacNeil, a close ally of former first minister Alex Salmond, was initially suspended after news of the fight broke, which saw him reportedly seethe ‘you’re a small wee man!’ at O'Hara several times before flinging an entire stack of papers at him. He has been sitting as an independent MP ever since.  In a scathing Twitter post, MacNeil announced that ‘the summer of member expulsion’ has ‘come to pass.’ The decision to expel him from the party was made by a ‘member conduct committee’, the MP tweeted, alongside a kangaroo emoji… Now, whatever could he be trying to suggest? https://twitter.

To say the SNP have a disastrous record on transport would be putting it lightly. The ferries don’t run on time (if at all), the mystery of the motorhome remains unsolved and the nationalists still haven’t dualled Scotland’s most dangerous road. Perhaps then it’s no surprise to hear that former first minister Nicola Sturgeon and her husband (and former party chief executive) Peter Murrell have been caught driving an untaxed car around town.  It took an awkward phone call from the Sun newspaper for the couple to rectify the late tax, overdue by eight days. Sturgeon and Murrell may now receive a ‘late licensing penalty’ letter and an £80 fine.

Even in her absence, Nicola Sturgeon dominated Iain Dale’s discussion with Alex Salmond and David Davis at the Edinburgh festival. Dale invited them both to comment on George Galloway’s suggestion that Sturgeon is ‘Mrs Thatcher in a kilt.’ Salmond flatly rejected this caricature. (Evidently he knows that criticising her in public will do him no favours.) Davis also dismissed the comparison. ‘Mrs Thatcher’s favourite pastime was arguing with people. Nicola wasn’t like that,’ he said, recalling the meetings he held with her during his term as Brexit secretary. ‘Nicola was very passive, very difficult to engage with. She adopted the image of a stern, domineering woman – which a lot of men like.

We must hope Nicola Sturgeon’s remaining supporters are, right now, judging her. That’s what she wanted, after all. In a speech back in 2015 — the year she led the SNP to its third Holyrood election victory — Sturgeon said education would be her priority during her time in office. 'Let me be clear,' she said, 'I want to be judged on this. If you are not, as First Minister, prepared to put your neck on the line on the education of our young people then what are you prepared to. It really matters.' Of course, it was easy for Sturgeon to demand she be judged because she knew she wouldn’t be. None of her supporters was willing to rock the boat by pointing out the many ways in which the SNP had failed teachers and pupils.

North of the border, the long-anticipated by-election in Rutherglen and Hamilton West has finally been confirmed. This constituency is classic SNP-Labour swing territory, and though an SNP-held seat until recently, polls have shown that Labour support in Scotland is on the rise. The by-election will put these predictions to the test: can Labour’s candidate Michael Shanks not just win, but win well and capture the mood for change? Possibly, but for this to happen, Labour needs to present Scottish voters with a better vision — instead of continuing to rely on SNP failures. We can be assured that the longstanding SNP-Labour rivalry will come out in full force as the by-election date nears. The same tactics have all been used before.