WE have been moved to write this letter from sheer incredulity and frustration.

As a nation, and if you were to begin to include every political and factional standpoint, we would appear to have expectations of our First Minister which are bordering on the superhuman.

She stands before the nation most days of the week providing a factually coherent and articulate presentation of the latest situation regarding the pandemic. Her briefings are a masterclass in clarity and grasp of the science behind the bare statistics. She neither patronises nor preaches to her audience, but it is abundantly clear that she cares and is big enough and brave enough to admit her failings – a rare quality in UK politics.

She patiently and intelligently responds to the often inane and blatantly political questions from the media at her regular briefings. She withstands the barrage of attacks from all opposition party leaders every week at FMQs. Any attempt by the opposition parties to present a united front in the face of a national emergency lasted a few weeks.

On the one hand she is damned if she dares to stray into political territory at the Covid briefings. On the other hand she’s accused of not actively pursuing independence. As she repeatedly states, as First Minister her first and foremost duty and responsibility is to the protection of the nation’s health – anything else would be a gross dereliction of duty.

Just ask the frontline health, care and key workers. Ask the bereaved families.

In April 2020 the Scottish Government published “Covid-19: A framework for decision-making”. A consultation document which recognised, amongst other things, the many harms caused by the virus and the need to suppress it. They included; direct harm to health; a wider impact on the capacity and capability of our health and social care services; the impact of restrictions on people’s lives, in particular people living in isolation and children from the closure of schools and the enormous impact on the economy.

Taken together they represent a formidable responsibility, an onerous burden and unremitting challenge. Taken together they demand the intelligence, fortitude, emotional and physical stamina, patience, empathy, and the political skills of a leader of international standing. There is no other political leader in the UK who comes close to Nicola Sturgeon. If you had any doubts you only have to look at her positive ratings in UK surveys.

READ MORE: It’s time for Alex Salmond to graciously bow out and let Nicola Sturgeon lead us to independence

She has skilfully and robustly managed the pandemic, often with one hand tied behind her back. She has acted with honour and integrity throughout, despite being undermined by UK ministers and nakedly ambitious politicians. Had she the many powers of an independent country we would’ve gone into lockdown earlier, borrowed more to support businesses and individuals through the economic hardships, and imposed border controls early on in the pandemic.

She has been regularly praised for her government’s approach to the pandemic by academic and clinical experts and commentators here and abroad. Contrast this with the chaotic, indecisive and incompetent leadership of the UK Government. The one positive achievement of the UK Government in this pandemic has been in securing early approval of vaccines and advance purchase of supplies of vaccines. But even here the UK Government can’t resist in indulging in triumphalism.

This became evident in the UK Government demanding that the Scottish Government remove the report on it’s vaccination programme, as it included details of vaccine allocation, as this was commercially confidential and would alert other countries to the contractual arrangements with suppliers such as Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

This constraint on transparency understandably did not go down well with the First Minister, and especially so, when despite agreements between the four nations to the contrary, UK Government ministers have continued to brief this data to the media.

We would challenge anyone to begin to understand the profound anger and frustration this must engender. We lesser mortals need to get real.

There is no one on the sidelines, in the wings or anywhere else, capable of stepping into Nicola Sturgeon’s shoes. She is not superhuman, and the stresses and strains that are being inflicted on her day in day out must be unbearable. Accordingly, the attacks on her ability and integrity need to stop NOW, not least from party members and independence supporters.
Kate Howie, Lesley Haxton and Gordon McLaren
Highland Perthshire