It has been another week in which it has seemed - when covering the economic and business scene - that politics has never been very far away.

We have had continuing drama over the Scottish Government’s legislation on the licensing of short-term lets, with The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) ramping up its campaign against this ahead of the introduction of the new regulations.

The Conservatives look to have sensed a political opportunity here, as they did with the deposit return scheme. There were certainly some major issues around the implementation of the DRS, which was being overseen by Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater. In any case, this scheme had to be put on hold after the Conservative Government at Westminster brandished the Internal Market Act.

However, the short-term lets legislation is, aside from the political opportunism being shown, nothing like the DRS, where there seemed to be a widespread acceptance that there were major flaws that needed to be addressed before the implementation of what is in principle a very important thing in driving recycling.

There are understandably very different perspectives on the licensing of short-term lets, depending on people’s situation. The argument that something needs to be done by way of licensing amid housing market dysfunction in many places, from the likes of Edinburgh to rural towns and villages, is a strong one. There is also a case to be made for the new legislation in terms of having a level playing field for tourism operators. However, some small bed and breakfast and guest house operators have found themselves within the scope of the new rules. This has occurred even though the rules were, in a general sense, not aimed at bed and breakfast and guest house establishments.

It is a complex issue and political noise in such situations tends not to be very helpful in terms of ironing out fine details. The ASSC is obviously coming from one particular viewpoint but others have the opposite perspective amid concerns that the explosion of Airbnb-type establishments has made housing shortages worse.

At a UK-wide level, of course, politics continues to have a very heavy bearing on business and economic matters in these turbulent times.

Take, for example, the Conservatives’ politically driven hard Brexit, which remains a dark cloud over many businesses and the economy.

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My column in The Herald on Wednesday focused on how Prime Minister Rishi Sunak should have, before he jumped on the plane for the G20 summit in India last weekend, reflected on the simple wisdom that in most if not all negotiations it is surely common sense not to look too desperate.

Mr Sunak’s comments to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at a meeting in a conference room at the summit in New Delhi, seemed very obsequious, based on the report on the discussions issued by the UK Government. And they appeared to betray a desperation to do a trade deal with India, as the Conservatives continue to try to paint a picture that Brexit is in fact a good thing in spite of the enormous amount of evidence to the contrary.

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The sorry reality is that a trade deal with India will deliver tiny benefits relative to what has been lost through Brexit, based on the Conservatives’ own estimates. The same applies to the deals already done with Australia and New Zealand.

Elsewhere on the political and economic front, Labour found itself at odds this week with trade unions which favour devolving power over employment rights in Scotland to the Scottish Parliament.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner has been signalling that this will not be happening if her party wins the next general election.

She declared the party’s “new deal for working people” would mean “work will finally pay, rights will be properly enforced, and crucially, it will strengthen the role of trade unions in our society”, when she addressed the Trades Union Congress in Liverpool on Tuesday. Her speech came the day after trade unions across the UK passed a motion put to the TUC by Unite supporting the devolution of employment rights to the Scottish Parliament.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has expressed concerns about what has been happening with Labour on the employment law front, writing in The Herald last Monday that “their backtracking has now made the demand for devolution of employment rights all the more compelling”.

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Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf declared that he was “old enough to remember when Labour in Scotland also supported the devolution of employment law to Scotland”.

My column in The Herald on Friday highlighted the opportunity for Scotland to use powers over employment rights, if these were devolved, to make itself an even more attractive place for people to live and work.

The Scottish Government’s emphasis on “fair work” has been a refreshing thing, as the Conservatives at Westminster have proceeded with their dismantling of employment rights.

Many people, for good reason, worry about a continuing erosion of such rights, especially with the hard Brexit having enabled the removal of safeguards that came with European Union membership.

It is difficult to see any negatives at all for Scotland if powers over employment rights were devolved.