A Week in Parliament

 Local Lockdowns

Leicester has become the first part of the UK to do its own local shutdown in a bid to control a spike in the number of cases of coronavirus - hopefully it works for the city. There are a number of other English councils looking to do likewise. After the mass opening of pubs and other service sectors such as hairdressers then there must be risks of bigger spikes around England. Some of the photographs of crowds gathering at pubs vindicate these fears. Another business issue is that if there are further lockdown restrictions the UK Government support schemes are ending so people could literally be left high and dry.

There is no doubt the virus has been controlled much better in Scotland. This is undisputable with the small number of daily increases, sometimes as little as five new cases across the whole of Scotland. It is testament to the majority of our population who have followed the guidance for lockdown, social distancing and other precautions such as hand washing and facemasks. I would urge people to continue in this vein. Like everyone else I am looking forward to a normality of pubs and restaurants opening. However, there is a reward for patience and the last thing required would be the return of widescale lockdowns.

Border Control

While no-one has questioned the need for Leicester to have its own lockdown policies, there has been a predictable reaction to Nicola Sturgeon saying some form of quarantine type measures may be required for people traveling to Scotland from England. It is unlikely that this would ever happen, but there is a reality that if England continues to suffer spikes and increases in the virus then we should not have a free for all scenario of people travelling to Scotland if coming from a high-risk area. For everyone’s sake, hopefully the virus remains under control in the rest of the UK then we don’t have to worry about such actions.

Independence Support

An opinion poll commissioned by the Sunday Times has shown support for Scottish Independence remaining at 54%. It makes the Labour party’s position to remain against another referendum unfathomable. Indeed, Ian Murray has argued that if the SNP were to win another majority at Holyrood and Labour came to power at Westminster, still opposing another referendum, then the General Election vote would trump the Holyrood vote. This he says would mandate for Labour to block a referendum. In all the rhetoric, it is about “stopping the SNP”. Why can’t they see it is about allowing the people a democratic say?

At times of crisis, people usually don’t want change, so it could be argued that an increased support for independence is a little surprising. I suspect this shows that people have been impressed by Nicola Sturgeon’s performance during the pandemic compared to Boris Johnson’s failure to get to grips with it. As Brexit looms ever closer and a possible No deal crashout is forced upon us, I think more people will see that independence is the best way for Scotland to control its future.