Politics suddenly came to an end when Russia invaded Ukraine. There is nothing in the papers anymore about Boris Johnson having parties in Downing Street. There are no more briefings about Covid and we’ve all ceased caring very much about how many cases there are either here or elsewhere. I suspect that the police investigation into who opened what bottle of wine and when will result in nothing very much because no one is any longer paying attention.
But politics does not stop. It may be tasteless to link events in Ukraine with Scotland’s political situation, but events there will have long term consequences for the debate here and everywhere else in Europe. Finland and Sweden are debating whether they ought to join NATO not out of parochialism or lack of concern for Ukrainians, but because Russian actions and threats have changed the political and security situation in those countries. So too here.