Sturgeon’s obvious glee at the bright idea of using Covid to
separate holy Scotland from chauvinistic, useless, prejudiced, xenophobic,
militaristic, Trident-loving, French-hating, Boris-obeying, non-SNP-voting
England is embarrassing to behold. IF, and it is a big "if", there is
any rational case for using geographical segregation as a tool against the
virus, then it should focus on separating the diseased areas from the healthy
ones, so that the former can be locked down and the rest allowed to get on with
life and earning some money for the country as a whole.
Dividing by counties is absurd - Argyll embraces
near-Glasgow areas which are diseased with others like the islands and Kintyre
which are comparatively free of Covid. In fact, a close look at the virus map
would reveal that it is the most densely populated areas which are worst
effected (no surprise there). BUT – and here's the interesting point – if that
is correlated with the political map it will be seen that it is overwhelmingly
(though not uniformly) true that the most diseased areas are SNP-supporting
ones. The least diseased are the Tory ones.
If "President" Sturgeon really wanted to help, she
would close off the diseased areas of the country from the healthy ones, but
that would disadvantage her supporters and give a boost to her
"enemies" (as she sees them). So the whole of Scotland is made to
suffer from her blunt-instrument approach, which is destructive. Much more
importantly, it is an indirect attack on the rule of law. It is by no means the
first in her administration, and will not be the last, I am sure. But a pattern
is beginning to emerge. She used the state apparatus to further her political
goals. THAT is very much what Donald Trump has been doing, and I think she
should be seen in that light - which is why I recently published my book on the
wider subject of Scottish history and legal virtue.
It is called "THE JUSTICE FACTORY: Can the Rule of Law
Survive in 21st Century Scotland?" (Ian Mitchell, 2020) It is not a
party-political screed. It has been endorsed by both ends of the political
spectrum here: Ian ("Stone of Destiny") Hamilton QC, the renegade
nationalist, and Adam Tomkins, who is both an MSP (Tory) and Professor of
Constitutional Law in the University of Glasgow. The Foreword is written by
Lord Hope of Craighead, ex-Deputy President of the UK Supreme Court and Alan
Page, Professor of Public Law at Dundee, who is the author “Constitutional Law
of Scotland”, the main reference work, has written an Introduction to Part II.
Details of the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1981993401?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860
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