First Minister wins singer Macdonald’s backing

She is one of Scotland’s bestknown singing superstars.

But now Amy Macdonald has swapped pop music for punditry to throw her weight behind Nicola Sturgeon over her handling of the coronavirus pandemic - declaring that she is treated better outwith her own country because of the bitter divides over Scottish independence.

Making her debut on a new media podcast, Macdonald also accused BBC Scotland Editor Sarah Smith of treating Scots as if they are “buttoned up the back” with her apology for suggesting the First Minister had “enjoyed” being able to set her own lockdown rules for controlling Covid-19 crisis.

Speaking on the Talk Media podcast, Macdonald said she was convinced Ms Sturgeon was “genuinely following the advice she was being given” rather than making decisions which would help boost the case for independence.

Asked about the First Minister’s treatment by the media, Macdonald said: “Outwith Scotland, it is positive. In Scotland, we’ve got the constitutional divide that will always be there and seeps its way into every news report.

“In Scotland, you’re still going to get a fifty-fifty divide, whereas in the rest of the UK and in countries further afield, it seems like the reporting on

Nicola Sturgeon’s handling of it has been quite positive on the whole.

“I definitely do not think she is making any of these decisions based on future independence referendums or anything like that. I genuinely think she’s following the advice she’s been given.

“I think that’s why people feel they can rely on her. She is honest and comes across as somebody you can trust.

“Compared to Boris Johnson and his pals, I think anyone would come out favourably, but overwhelmingly it seems that people think she is doing a good job. Nobody can deny that she is working hard.

“She seems to be the only person in any country that is doing these briefings themselveseverysingleday. Isometimes think she must be absolutely knackered.”

Macdonald poured scorn on Sarah Smith’s apology to the First Minister, when she insisted she meant to say “embraced” rather than “enjoyed.”

Macdonald added: “I was actually watching the Six O’clock News and she used the word embraced on that. It was enough to make me rewind to check what she actually said as it sounded absolutely terrible. I was shocked at the road she’d chosen to go down.

“Everybody in Scotland knew what she meant, she knew what she meant, yet we’ve all got to believe we’re buttoned up the back.”