‘Any objective analysis would conclude it’s a record of abject failure’

TO stay in post for seven-and-ahalf years and become Scotland’s longest-serving First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon clearly has stamina, determination and political nous.

But beyond her longevity – what is there to celebrate? Any objective analysis of her record would have to conclude that it’s one of abject failure. Indeed, it’s hard to know where to start.

In 2016, Nicola Sturgeon described eliminating the educational attainment gap between youngsters from the most and least-deprived backgrounds within a decade as her government’s defining mission. But, with the gap having increased to a chasm, last week her Education Secretary ditched the pledge.

Amid the litany of SNP educational failures – which includes Scotland tumbling down the international PISA rankings and inadequate teacher numbers – this is the most shameful from a government purporting to be progressive.

In health, even allowing for the effects of the pandemic, the charge sheet is damning: dangerously high A&E waiting times, missed cancer diagnosis targets predating Covid, and lamentable NHS workforce planning that has left us with chronic shortages of nurses and GPs. And then there is Scotland’s national shame: our drug-related death rate – the highest in Europe – which has rocketed on the watch of Nicola Sturgeon, who, in her own words, took her eye off the ball.

Transport is now a byword for SNP incompetence. With the ferries, though, it goes beyond mismanagement and into the realms of corruption. It’s bad enough for islanders and taxpayers that the two ferries being built by Ferguson Marine are five years late and two-and-ahalf times over budget.

But the fact that Nicola Sturgeon’s government awarded them the contract against expert advice – and refuses to explain why – has turned this into a national scandal.

Given the problems at nationalised Ferguson Marine, the chaos on Scotland’s trains less than two months after the Scottish Government took control of ScotRail is unsurprising.

Driver shortages, stemming from a pay dispute, have led to an unacceptable 30 per cent reduction in services.

And this mess is presided over by a government supposedly determined to get us out of cars and on to public transport.

Then again, for all her grandstanding at COP26 in Glasgow, environment is another policy area where Nicola Sturgeon has failed to meet her own targets.

It’s the same story of failure on law and order, where a softtouch approach to justice has led to police numbers falling and violent crime rising.

Beyond the individual policy failures is the bigger picture. When the First Minister took over, Scotland was bitterly split following the 2014 independence referendum.

But instead of accepting the outcome and trying to heal the nation, Nicola Sturgeon and Co have picked at the scab by continually pushing for another vote. The majority of Scots are sick of this constitutional Groundhog Day and just want to move on.

But the First Minister won’t let us do so. That’s why her legacy will be one of division, as well as failure.

The majority of Scots are sick of this constitutional Groundhog Day and just want to move on