Incompetence will kill IndyRef dream
Labour leader says problems in NHS will get worse now First Minister is trying to force a second referendum
NICOLA Sturgeon has every right to call for a second referendum on independence.
The intention was made clear in her party’s 2021 Holyrood election manifesto.
The SNP leader said she would look to stage the vote in the second half of the parliamentary term. Her announcement this week confirmed that.
It doesn’t mean her Government can take its eye off the ball.
SNP and Green ministers need to get the day job right. That means boosting the country’s stuttering economy as inflation batters businesses and dents consumer confidence.
Special attention must also be paid to the NHS as it struggles to meet post-pandemic demand from patients.
Anas Sarwar was right to flag up the Daily Record’s splash from yesterday, highlighting “hell on Earth” in wards due to corona staff shortages.
The NHS crisis is all the more worrying as we are in the height of summer. What will it be like come the winter flu season?
It is crises like this that Sturgeon must get a grip of, and while she is entitled to stage a referendum, it can’t be at the expense of running the country.
The public accepts times are hard and making political choices in the current climate cannot be easy.
But the single best advert for independence is Nicola Sturgeon proving the SNP can run Scotland well.
If she fails on that front it will be an uphill struggle to convince voters that independence is the answer to the nation’s problems.
NICOLA Sturgeon has been accused of spending “seven days a week, sometimes 24 hours a day” on her plan for a second referendum on independence.
The First Minister was challenged by Anas Sarwar to focus on “rebuilding” the country after the corona crisis.
The Scottish Labour leader pointed to the worst cancer treatment waiting times on record as the kind of issues the Scottish Government should be focusing on.
Sturgeon said improvements were needed in the health service but claimed the pandemic was partly to blame.
And she insisted independence would be good for Scotland and the NHS.
The clash at First Minister’s Questions came after the Scottish Government this week announced its intention to hold an IndyRef2 on October 19 next year – but only if approved by the UK Supreme Court.
Sturgeon has warned that if her plan for another referendum is blocked by judges, her party will campaign at the next general election on the single issue of ending the Union.
Speaking at First Minister’s Questions, Sarwar pointed to the Record’s shocking front page exclusive yesterday on how the NHS is being stretched to breaking point by the latest wave of coronavirus infections.
The Glasgow MSP said: “Since the election campaign last year, when Nicola Sturgeon made a promise to focus on Covid recovery and cancer catch-up, over 3000 cancer patients have not started treatment on time.
“This problem predates the pandemic.
“In the eight years Nicola Sturgeon has been First Minister she has never met the 62-day treatment standard; 78,310 patients have already waited more than the six-week standard.”
He added: “The front page of the Daily Record has nurses warning that working on hospital wards is like ‘hell on Earth’. The recovery hasn’t even started yet. In fact things have got worse.
“Haven’t we gone back to the divisive Nicola Sturgeon who is now spending seven days a week, sometimes what feels like 24 hours a day, focusing on her priority of dividing our country, rather than rebuilding it?”
The First Minister shot back: “In the period he is talking about, what he seems to want to forget is there have been three further waves of a pandemic.
“We have seen staff absences, for example, impacting on the performance of the NHS.”
She added: “He wants to back up the Conservatives on this point. I want to free Scotland from the Conservatives.
“The worst thing that could ever happen to the NHS is to continue to have a Conservative government cutting the budgets of this Parliament.
“That’s why having independence is good for the country, including our NHS.”
The First Minister faced more questions on cancer treatment waiting times from Jackie Baillie.
Labour’s health spokeswoman read out correspondence from a consultant who warned that NHS bosses on the country’s largest health board were left “firefighting”.
It comes after emails leaked to a medical journal warned the Beatson Cancer Centre in Glasgow was “stretched to the limits of endurance”.
Baillie said: “The causes of this predate the pandemic. This is what one consultant oncologist had to say, ‘Due to the lack of staff, rundown equipment, failure to plan for the future. This … situation of rationing cancer care was entirely predictable’.
“He went on, ‘The NHS and cancer care is run like a budget airline and NHS Greater Glasgow spends more time firefighting than forward thinking’”.
Sturgeon said: “The point… is NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have confirmed there are no plans to stop treatments early or interrupt schedules.”