Better together

There are now some signs that lockdown across the UK will be relaxed gradually. The Prime Minister has given indition

cations of how the government sees this being implemented by sector and where possible in what timescale.

But it seems that in Scotland we have Nicola Sturgeon attempting to assert her authority by refusing to follow UK policy over the proposals made by Westminster for a staged return to normality by agreeing to permit activities such as exercise in parks and on beaches, phased opening of primary schools, the reopening of certain types of cafes and restaurants and the reopening of golf courses – as just a few examples.

This is all very well on Sturgeon’s part, but she must remember that huge financial support for Holyrood has come from the Exchequer in London.

To date there has been a £30 billion support package to steer scotland through the ‘outbreak’. Also, a sum of £640 million extra through the Barnett Formula. To date there is little evidence of what the Scottish Government has done with it, other than bank it.

But Nicola Sturgeon can rest assured that any further subsidisation will only apply provided she agrees to conform to the overall UK policies in such desperate times. There is no room for her maverick style in a crisis such as this. If she wishes to adopt different policies to the other parts of the UK, she must find the means of financing them.

This whole ghastly business of the overall effects of coronavirus in the UK has only gone to show how much the four nations rely on each other. They are indeed much ‘better together’.

ROBERT IG SCOTT Northfield, Ceres, Fife