Please spare us pardons for witches
I FELT slightly perplexed after Nicola Sturgeon issued a formal apology and exonerated the 4,000 innocent Scots accused of being witches, who were unfairly convicted and murdered 300 years ago, most of them female, to mark International Women’s Day.
Not because I believe the victims of these heinous crimes shouldn’t be remembered, they should, as in the words of the First Minister it was “an injustice on a colossal scale”, but because I firmly believe that the High Priestess of Holyrood and her imperious government should devote the same amount of time, energy and zeal to dealing with the problems of the present rather than highlighting those of Scotland’s blood-soaked past.
They should also voice their unequivocal support and backing for Scottish business, particularly its hospitality sector, which feels it has been unfairly treated since the very beginning of the pandemic.
As Leon Thompson, director of UK Hospitality Scotland astutely pointed out, many businesses felt “picked on” and believed they were an “easy target” every time the Scottish Government decided to introduce or reimpose restrictictions.
Not quite a witch hunt, but I largely agree with what he says, especially when you consider that this £6 billion sector, employing 260,000 people, was subjected to, and targeted with, some of the most ineffectual, inept and business-crippling public health measures ever to have been dreamt up by Public Health Scotland and the government.
There was the monumentally stupid ban on background music, the introduction of the discriminatory Covid Certification Scheme (vaccine passports) which it turns out the government knew to be ineffective in curtailing the spread of the virus and, more recently, the deeply damaging shut-down of Scotland during the festive holidays, when the government panicked over Omicron, ignored the data, and refused to follow the science.
Our airports and airline industry have also been ignored, grounded, and left high and dry by both the UK and Scottish governments, with punishing travel restrictions.
The undiluted focus of our government’s attention must be on the here and now, not the multitude of sins and transgressions of our ancestors
A dreadful decision which according to an industry insider has left them operating at half capacity and extremely short of labour – if demand was to ever improve, which is doubtful, as there are many more Scots flying out on holiday than overseas visitors flying in.
Which does not bode well for our struggling hotel industry and plethora of small B&BS and short term lets reliant on overseas trade, nor is it good news for Scotland’s struggling tourism and events industry, all of which were severely impacted by the curbs and restrictions and almost bludgeoned into oblivion during the festive shutdown.
As a return to the workplace continues to be discouraged, footfall remains drastically down, particularly in our towns and cities. Glasgow, which has seen its retail sector slump, once sat proudly among the top UK high streets and now languishes forlornly near the bottom. Unless that situation improves, there will be yet more store closures and To-let signs put up.
And to make matters worse, a recent report from the Fraser of Allander Institute found that there was no evidence to show that the SNP’S £280 million per annum flagship Small Business Bonus Scheme worked as intended. Which must make excruciating reading for the government, considering they commissioned the report.
Enough is enough, at a time of great political and economic uncertainty, when the storm clouds of war darken the horizon and our fragile post-pandemic recovery is being seriously threatened with hikes in interest rates and the cost of living.
The undiluted focus of our government’s attention must be on the here and now, not the multitude of sins and transgressions of our ancestors.
They must wake from their insular trance, stop their interfering, and instead weave some magic, open their minds, and be bold, innovative, forward-thinking, and imaginative, because at the moment they come across as arrogant, bereft of ideas, fixated on all the wrong issues and obsessed with the past.