SNP's fantasy independence politics is letting the real Scotland down badly – Scotsman comment

With Scotland’s culture sector in crisis, ministers should be working hard to find solutions to its problems

Being a football manager can be hard, with abrupt dismissal following a few defeats an accepted occupational hazard. Playing a fantasy football computer game can also be challenging, but regardless of whether or not you manage to guide Albion Rovers to the Champions League, it doesn’t really matter because it is only a game.

Running a country is, obviously, much more difficult than managing a football club, and we should have at least a degree of respect for those who take on that heavy responsibility – except when they wilfully decide to shirk their duties and engage in fantasy politics instead.

In the latest Scottish Government announcement about its plans for an independent Scotland, we learn that it “expects” a licence fee would “likely remain” the best way to fund a new public sector broadcaster that would “better reflect and prioritise the specific needs and interests of Scottish audiences”. There is also the suggestion that international football matches would be available on free-to-watch TV. Vote indy to watch Scotland at the Euros...

Culture Secretary Angus Robertson presented the Scottish Government's latest paper on independence yesterday (Picture: Jane Barlow/PA)

There are many problems with all this. First, Scotland is not going to become an independent country anytime soon, given the current level of support and the UK Government’s opposition to a referendum, which is set to continue if Labour wins the next Westminster election. Second, if Scotland became independent, its government would not be bound to follow the policies that SNP ministers have been setting out. These are make-believe ideas that are not grounded in reality for the simple reason the state to which they are supposed to apply does not exist.

However, the biggest issue is that when nationalist ministers are working on all these papers, they are not doing the job they were elected to do – run Scotland’s devolved government. The culture sector, which employs nearly 80,000 people and is worth almost £4.4 billion, is in a state of crisis with dire warnings about job cuts.

In such a situation, our government should be working night and day to turn things around. Politics is not a game. Those who treat it as one are letting their country down.