Why the Ferrier incident is just a bump in the road on Scotland's march towards independence

While the ill-judged trip across the country after a positive Covid test has prompted criticism from all sides, Sean O'Grady argues that the stellar performance of Sturgeon during the pandemic means the SNP’s chief aim has not been damaged

The Scottish first minister was quick to condemn her MP

No doubt it was genuinely disappointing for Nicola Sturgeon to have to call on someone she calls her friend, Margaret Ferrier, to “do the right thing” and quit as an MP for breaking Covid rules. Hypocrisy is, of course, the other crime Ms Ferrier was guilty of, an even more serious offence in the statutes of the British media. The pressure on Ms Ferrier and on Ms Sturgeon is intense.

As SNP leader and first minister, Ms Sturgeon has won broad approval among the Scottish people during the Covid crisis. Her air of efficient, serious application to the task in hand has been in striking contrast to Boris Johnson’s style, and she has benefited greatly from the contrast. Although Scotland’s Covid performance has only been marginally superior to the rest of the UK, and the country has had its share of local lockdowns and personal Corona-scandals (Ms Ferrier and chief medical officer Catherine Calderwood), Ms Sturgeon has proved that in this respect at least Scotland can run its own affairs perfectly well. Support for a second referendum on independence and for independence itself has risen. If Ms Sturgeon wanted to prove that this crisis showed that Scotland was not “too wee, too poor and too stupid” to govern herself she has succeeded. Her reaction to Ms Ferrier’s misfortunes was skilfully handled in Ms Sturgeon’s daily press conference. Ms Ferrier’s resignation in a safe SNP seat will do Ms Sturgeon’s reputation no harm. Again, a flattering contrast will be drawn with Mr Johnson’s attitude to his errant chief adviser Dominic Cummings. (Ms Sturgeon was careful to mention that notorious case in her public remarks too).