Sturgeon’s hubris

Given the novel nature of the Covid-19 virus, it was inevitable that politicians would make mistakes when deciding how to deal with it. In the early days, few knew how serious it would be, and there was alarm at scenes from hospitals in northern Italy. Nevertheless, it was the responsibility of governments to question the advice they were being given. Were the measures being suggested to them proportionate to the threat?

Instead, too many leaders seemed to view the pandemic, and the opportunity to act as champions of public health by imposing excessively harsh lockdown measures, as a way of burnishing their political reputations. That is certainly what Nicola Sturgeon, the former Scottish first minister, is accused of doing. At the Covid Inquiry yesterday, it was even put to her that “the story of Covid in Scotland is the story of the hubris of Nicola Sturgeon”.

Ms Sturgeon denied that she was failing to be “open and honest” with the inquiry. But given the evident secrecy of her administration – and the failure to retain Whatsapp messages, which may have been crucial to understanding how decisions were made – how is anyone meant to know whether that is really the case?

Whatever Ms Sturgeon’s supporters might like to believe, Scotland did not have a good pandemic. Often, the Scottish government went further than the rest of the UK in the measures enforced to control the virus, and it is not obvious that this was significantly beneficial in terms of public health. Moreover, whatever popularity the SNP might have gained from its tough approach has since turned to dust. Hubris indeed.