The pandemic relaunches Scottish independence: "A new referendum is going to be held"

• Independence: Scotland wants to decide its future in a second referendum

Caution in the face of skepticism. Total suppression of the virus versus containment. Differences in managing the pandemic between Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's chief minister, and Boris Johnson, UK prime minister, have fueled, once again after the Brexit push, nationalist sentiment in the region. "I think a new referendum is going to be held , " says the SNP leader in the Commons from Westminster. Sturgeon, however, strives to separate the two issues in an attempt to maintain prudence, but knows that the image given by his government, despite the fact that the results are not particularly good, reinforces the ultimate goal of his party: a Scotland Independent.

According to a poll recently published by The Sunday Times , 54% of Scots are already in favor of separating their path from the rest of the British . It is the second poll that coincides in this data in recent weeks, although the most important is that of the overwhelming victory that is predicted for Sturgeon in the elections of May next year. If so, everything points to a repeat of the referendum held in 2014, although the situation now, with the United Kingdom a few months away from leaving the European Union and with Boris Johnson, who does not cause special sympathy in the north of the country, in Downing Street could lead to a very different result than then.

"The 'yes' movement has something to learn from the fact that, when we decided to focus on managing this crisis and stopped screaming for independence and among ourselves about how to achieve it, we have allowed for citizens to stop and think: 'Come on, so this is the benefit of being able to make decisions autonomously, maybe things would be better if we had a little more of this,' "Sturgeon explained last Sunday, the day that It also celebrated its 50th birthday. "Of course, at no time in recent months have I even considered whether what I was doing positively or negatively affected the independence cause."

A message with which his colleagues in Westminster agree, where he has continued to criticize the way in which the Johnson Executive has faced the pandemic. "We are not doing this to strengthen independence, but I think people are seeing themselves reflected in the leadership that is being transmitted. There is a reaction to that leadership, which is that perhaps a greater confidence in our cause is being built because of all that is happening. happening, "said Ian Blackford recently , leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in the House of Commons.

Coronavirus management key

The management carried out since Holyrood in recent times and, especially, during the coronavirus crisis, contrasts with the strategy seen in Downing Street. From the outset, in Edinburgh they focused on "completely eliminating" the virus, while from London it was transmitted that it was necessary to "stop its transmission". Two models that can still be seen even now, since, despite the fact that the epidemiological situation is more favorable in Scotland than in England, the Scots continue to be one step behind in the relaxation of the measures of social distancing.

This has only reinforced the feeling that exists in much of the United Kingdom that the Executive of Boris Johnson has acted late and on many occasions poorly, while that of Sturgeon, which however has not had great results, has known Better convey that your decisions have been guided by prudence and direct expert advice.

"It is evident that she herself is closely following what is happening. It is not just that she listens to those who advise her, but that she is a little like Angela Merkel , since it is noted that she spends a lot of time reading and understanding the information to the Respect. The truth is that I have not heard the same from the Prime Minister, "argued in The Guardian Linda Bauld , professor at the University of Edinburgh.

Despite the fact that to date more than 2,500 people have died in Scotland as a result of the coronavirus, figures much higher than in countries with a similar population - in Norway, for example, 255 have done so -, in the last 30 days they have 15 people lost their lives . An improvement, however, has also led to rekindling tensions with England, with whom it has even threatened to lift borders to prevent transmission of the virus between the two regions. Johnson's response, however, has been that there is no such border, and the idea seems like it won't take much longer.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

• UK
• Boris Johnson
• London
• European Union
• Scotland independence

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