Alan Simpson: This shift in the Scottish Government’s powers should concern all of us
HISTORY tells us that once a Government has the population on a string it will very rarely let go without a fight.
Ending people’s liberties should always be used as a last resort in the face of an apocalyptic threat and should be scrapped immediately once the danger passes.
This was the case in March 2020 when Nicola Sturgeon and Boris Johnson took the joint decision to lock down the whole of the UK in the face of the mounting threat from coronavirus.
Emergency powers were rapidly introduced, with folk in the UK under the most stringent conditions since the Second World War.
Three months later, the threat had receded and we were all allowed out again before being plunged back into lockdown for nearly six months as cases mounted again.
Now, more than 70 per cent of the population has been vaccinated and Johnson has reopened England completely with no restrictions on the population at all.
It is a different story in Scotland, however, and the SNP have gone even further and want the emergency powers to close schools, introduce lockdowns and require face coverings to be made permanent.
Nicola Sturgeon’s Government has enforced lockdowns twice
Opponents have warned the SNP is heading down “a dangerous route” by proposing handing ministers permanent powers “on a whim”.
It is certainly a move that should disturb us all as it could very well be the thin end of the wedge.
Repeatedly we have been told, some would say brainwashed, into getting vaccinated with the promise that restrictions would finally end and we would be safe while living with the virus.
This is clearly not the case, as we now face the very real prospect of being plunged back into lockdown amid an alarming rise in positive cases. This suggests the vaccine has had less impact on limiting the spread among the population as first thought.
Either that, or the figures just aren’t credible. Hospitalisations are still low but as increasing numbers of patients appear needing complex treatment, the NHS could be overwhelmed by an influx of Covid sufferers.
We all know what happens next after that and it means the last 18 months have been pretty pointless.
Melbourne has just gone into its sixth lockdown after just eight new cases were discovered, while Auckland has gone back into lockdown in New Zealand after a single case was found.
This proves that governments across the world have no other answers apart from locking their citizens down and have no hesitation in using their emergency powers to do so.
In Scotland, it will likely be the same as Sturgeon has proven to opt for the nuclear option every time. The public are still compliant, but weary, and this naked power grab does nothing to ease minds and could backfire spectacularly.
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