Scottish independence debate in last week of Holyrood parliament before recess is a bad joke given the state of the country – Pamela Nash

Despite the NHS's many problems, rural communities up in arms, the cost-of-living crisis and more, MSPs are today debating the constitution of a future independent Scotland

Holyrood is getting ready to pack up, go home and get the paddling pools out for the summer. Parliamentary time is precious in this final week.

Every single person in Scotland is feeling the impact of the cost-of-living crisis. People are worried about how to afford their rent or rising mortgage repayments. Education standards continue to slip, police numbers are close to being at their lowest since the SNP came to power in 2007, and rural communities across the country are up in arms about a range of policy disasters.

With one-in-seven Scots on an NHS waiting list, most of us are worried about the healthcare of ourselves or a family member. So how is the Scottish Government spending its time today? What are they debating in parliament? You guessed it, Scottish independence. Again. It would be laughable if it weren’t so damaging.

SNP and Green politicians are now so focused on breaking up our country, that they are blinkered to the fact that their mismanagement of every policy area they are responsible for is reducing the quality of life for people across Scotland. And to be more specific, the debate taking place today is looking at the latest white paper produced by the Scottish Government on “creating a modern constitution for an independent Scotland”.

To be clear, this is propaganda funded by you and me. Our taxes are being used for staff, research and publications to try and convince people that breaking up Britain is a good idea despite us voting against this and there being a myriad of other urgent needs for funding.

Despite there being no possibility of a legal second referendum on Scotland leaving the UK any time in the near future and repeated polling showing that the public does not want another referendum any time soon, the SNP/Green Scottish Government has continued to spend our taxes on preparing for another referendum, including £1.4 million on white papers and the wages of the civil servants whose time is dedicated to producing them, and the appointment of a new minister for independence on a salary of almost £100,000 a year.

The SNP spent even more time navel-gazing at the weekend at their convention on, shock horror, Independence. Where is the SNP convention on poverty? On education? On the NHS?

When there's no prospect of independence any time soon, Scotland's MSPs should be debating more pressing matters (Picture: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

So it’s no surprise when we hear people say that they are sick of this. Voters are turning their backs on those driven by a nationalist agenda, and with good reason. It is time for the Scottish Government to stop spending our money on its vanity project, and to use it for what it is intended: to help alleviate the problems we are facing together in our society. It is time for the people’s priorities, not the SNP’s.

Pamela Nash is chief executive of Scotland in Union