Nicola Sturgeon's Pavlovian instinct to do opposite to UK Government has led to some bizarre decisions – Murdo Fraser MSP

She thinks it should be considered. When asked about the prospects of nuclear war, she then answers with a non sequitur about the UK’s nuclear deterrent.

It is almost as if the First Minister hadn’t thought that one through. As though the baggage of her own ennui is weighing her down so much that she is not thinking straight. Or it could be that she is tiresomely predictable.

If the UK rules out an option, she rules it in. If the UK favours a policy, she opposes it, and all with the assertion that things could be so much better if Scotland left the UK. In this case, it’s risking an escalation of war, but you get the thinking.

The problem is that her Pavlovian instinct to show disregard for all things UK shows a distinct disregard for Scotland. And it is costing every household in the country.

The UK has granted a licence for the oil and gas reserves in the Cambo oil field to be exploited, and the First Minister predictably opposes it. Forget the thousands of Scottish jobs at stake, she is picking a constitutional fight with Westminster. Regard for the security of supply this could bring the UK comes second to the need to pick a fight with Boris.

It is the same with nuclear power. For energy security and to hopefully keep prices manageable, the UK Government is proposing nuclear new build. But despite the reservoir of expertise Scotland has in that area, the First Minister will have none of it.

At a time of record price rises for electricity, she allowed Hunterston B to close despite its capacity to supply 1.8 million homes. Energy prices were spiralling out of control before the Ukraine conflict, but war has added to the price pressures as well as the question of security of supply. The First Minister will claim she is merely trying to save the planet even if it means Putin gets to run it, but in the meantime more and more Scots are plunged into energy poverty.

The SNP’s anti-nuclear policy was adopted when student protestors hunkered down in their Afghans to put ‘Nuclear Power Nein Danke’ stickers on the bumpers of their 2CVs. The world has moved on but not the SNP leader’s thinking, or rather her absorption of party orthodoxy.

It has been a while since the First Minister shared with us of a Friday night what literary gem she recommends for the weekend. Perhaps she has read Orwell’s work that includes the line: “Four legs good, two legs bad.” Maybe it was inspiration for what appears to be her own mantra – ‘UK bad, everything else good’ – even if it led to some bizarre conclusions about our energy policy.

Murdo Fraser is a Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid-Scotland and Fife

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