Neil Mackay: Sturgeon blew it big time when she sided with a bullying Brussels in the ugly vaccine row

It’s the definition of extremism and stupidity. It’s utterly inimical to Scotland’s interests. The folly of such blinkered factionalism was thrown into stark relief by the First Minister. When Nicola Sturgeon was seen to side with the European Union in the ugly, petty AstraZeneca vaccine row, she let herself down badly.

As a Yes supporter and Remainer, some might feel a voter like me would be sympathetic to Ms Sturgeon’s position. That such perceptions exist is an increasingly worrying problem. We’re becoming a nation of people who agree with everything "our side" says – because of the constitution. Nuance in politics is dying; tribalism triumphant.

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The truth of the AstraZeneca row is that all sides are wrong to some degree – but, unquestionably, Europe was the greatest villain. To date, Europe has bungled its vaccination roll-out. Britain is far ahead in comparison. In a bid to get better supplies of AstraZeneca vaccine, Europe, frankly, lost the plot, threatening chaos at the Irish border, and endangering the peace process.

The behaviour of the European Union stank of hypocrisy. The position Europe took over protections for Irish people both north and south of the border during the Brexit debate was honourable. To then chuck all those good words and deeds out the window in recent days was shameful and egregious.

Amid the AstraZeneca feud, Sturgeon blundered in with both feet, laying down threats to publish details of vaccine supply data. She may well have been trying to defend the efficacy of her administration’s vaccine roll-out in the face of mounting criticism that it’s just not good enough - but that wasn’t how it looked. It looked as if Sturgeon was jumping in to back Brussels at the expense of Britain, no matter the cost or cause.

Europe’s position over the vaccine row managed to unite London, Dublin and Belfast. Sinn Fein, the DUP and Boris Johnson were all effectively in accord - but Sturgeon and her SNP government sat outside that circle. It was astonishingly mishandled.

Ms Sturgeon was immediately – predictably – attacked by the Brexiter wing of the Tory Party for sucking up to Brussels, at the expense of people across these islands. It was hard to argue with their view.

The AstraZeneca vaccine

It would be a fine world if we could push all this petty domestic point-scoring to one side and just look at the AstraZeneca row for what it really is: a disgusting case of vaccine nationalism on a grand scale.

Impoverished countries around the world are crying out for access to vaccines. What the AstraZenca row really reveals is the unedifying spectacle of rich nations squabbling over who gets to buy the most drugs. The bottom line is that Europe is engaged in vaccine nationalism and so is the UK. The key point of distinction is that London’s position is considerably less offensive than Brussels because London didn’t drag the Irish peace process into the row (for once). For Ms Sturgeon to misjudge this is worrying.

Of course, the SNP faithful will inevitably say Ms Sturgeon was simply defending her Government against attack. That may well be the case, but that’s not how the public sees it. The public sees Ms Sturgeon siding with a bully.

To make matters worse, Ms Sturgeon’s blundering in the AstraZeneca row took the spotlight off an issue she could have exploited strongly: Boris Johnson’s visit to Scotland. The sight of Mr Johnson clown-stepping his way around the country should have been a gift. Instead, Ms Sturgeon set herself up on the wrong side of the AstraZeneca argument.

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Ms Sturgeon, whether she likes it or not, now looks as clunking as some of the wilder elements of the Yes movement online, the types who denounce everything Westminster does simply because its Westminster. The folk who think Russia Today is a reliable source of news because – well, the BBC is British, isn’t it? My enemy’s enemy is my friend and all that nonsense , even if that friend happens to be the Kremlin.

The factionalism of the online world has tricked politicians. They now think we’re all of one mind: that a Remainer will always bow before Brussels, and a Yes voter will always denounce London. What idiocy. London can be wrong, Brussels can be wrong – and, as we increasingly see, Edinburgh can be wrong.

Of course, all this is happening amid internal meltdown for the SNP. The Alex Salmond saga threatens to take down the Sturgeon Government – though whether it will remains to be seen. It’s hard to spot much appetite for the story among the wider public, once you step away from Twitter zealotry. Clearly, fighting Covid and keeping the curse of Mr Salmond at arm’s length, though, must be hard on the nerves.

The party is also a toxic mess. It’s consumed by transphobia. There appears to be a swarm of zealots now in the ascendancy within the party who find themselves incapable of imagining a world where both the rights of women and the rights of trans people can be respected. Decency doesn’t have to mutually exclusive, or depend on the pain of one group at the expense of another – it’s possible to treat all groups fairly.

Ms Sturgeon had to issue a statement calling out transphobia in her party – an action she’s to be applauded for, but also an action which blows to pieces any claim that the SNP remains a progressive force. It’s not progressive, it’s an umbrella movement which masqueraded as progressive for quite some time and now the mask slips. Again, this civil war must be hard on the nerves.

This all raises the question: who’s advising Ms Sturgeon? Has she surrounded herself with grovellers? Incompetents? Lost control of the party? Is she so presidential, advice goes unheeded? The irony is that flawed though her leadership is, without Ms Sturgeon the SNP is sunk. She’s the best they’ve got.

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