Sturgeon must walk tightrope when it comes to referendum

Scotland may feel more divided than ever.

But perhaps the divisions are not as great as we believe.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s primary issue after this Holyrood election is crystal clear.

And it’s Scotland before independence. She tells us today that a referendum will not be top of her priorities if she returns to Holyrood as FM.

It’s not what many of the party faithful will want to hear.

But an honest answer and one that will resonate with voters who have lost loved ones, jobs, l ivelihoods and freedoms whatever side of the debate they are on.

For a politician who has lived, worked and breathed independence all her life, she says that Scotland’s recovery from Covid and gett ing out of lockdown are more important than any referendum.

Sturgeon said: “If you are asking me, is my first act on the day after the election going to be that, as opposed to doing what we need to do on Covid, the answer is no.

“I have believed in independence all of my adult life but the most important responsibility for a First Minister amidst a global crisis is to lead the country through it.”

A subtle but not unsurprising shift and confirmation that, like all of us, this past year and a pandemic have changed her.

If she is weary after not having a day off in over a year, she doesn’t show it.

But the spectre of Alex Salmond looms large. She accepts that she may well have to share a debating chamber with him. And knows that if that happens, he will be demanding IndyRef2 within hours.

On that too, she is clear.

She said: “I am not intimidated by Alex Salmond. I have never been intimidated by Alex Salmond, as he well knows.”

Yet the majority of Scotland’s parliament could be made up of independence supporting parties, all clamouring for her to made demands of Westminster for a Section 30 order.

It will be a tricky tightrope to walk.