Set aside separation and start saving jobs

THE nightmarish vision of imminent mass joblessness outlined by Gordon Brown is utterly chilling. His forecast of up to 250,000 people out of work equates to an unemployment rate of 10 per cent.

The former Prime Minister’s call for Nicola Sturgeon to work with Boris Johnson to ‘bury the hatchet’ is entirely correct. We urgently need cross-Border co-operation, the sharing of innovative ideas, and the pooling of resources.

But given tribal Scottish politics, it’s highly unlikely that the Nationalists will heed Mr Brown’s sage advice.

This week, they have been preoccupied with GERS figures – which make a mockery of their independence dream. Presented with official data showing a colossal deficit, Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said it proved the need for the UK to be broken up. It’s a reckless plan that would only exacerbate the economic turmoil.

Hypocritical ministers demand more powers and agitate for another referendum, railing against the UK Government. In the next breath they lobby for Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s furlough scheme to be extended.

The argument that a fledgling independent Scotland could have invested nearly as much, if anything at all, in a similar job retention scheme is completely untenable.

Opportunistic and unfailingly ideological, the SNP is hell-bent on pursuing its goal of destroying the United Kingdom – even in the face of acute crisis.

Before the pandemic, Miss Forbes and her predecessor Derek Mackay were wedded to high-tax statism that put us at a competitive disadvantage.

Strategic errors by a Cabinet bereft of dynamism and ability mean we’re illequipped to bounce back from the virus.

Fortunately, we are part of an alliance that has helped to keep hundreds of thousands of Scots out of the dole queue.

Is it too much to ask of the SNP that it sets aside its constitutional ambitions and focuses on the looming catastrophe? It can’t afford to waste more time and energy on plotting against the Union that has provided a vital lifeline for so many Scots.

Indeed, economic recovery must become the biggest priority of the SNP Government in the tumultuous times to come. To be taken seriously, it must drop its obsession with cloud-cuckoo-land economics without delay – and start saving jobs.