A leading member of Nicola Sturgeon’s covid advisory group claimed Scotland could have coped better with the pandemic if it was independent.
Professor Devi Sridhar, an expert in public health at Edinburgh University, said different decisions could have been made with better results.
The comments are certain to cause a backlash among opposition MSPs at Holyrood.
But Sridhar insisted she’s not making a political point.
In an interview with Holyrood magazine, she said Scotland could have recorded lower death rates.
“We could have hopefully been more like a Norway or a Denmark,” she said.
“Already, if you look at the charts and the devolved nations, Scotland does come out in terms of lowest case numbers. At the start, in March, it did just as badly, but since then, in the summer, we got the numbers low.”
Sridhar also criticised the route taken from London as the pandemic eased in summer.
“It’s hard because, I think, you saw in the summer the talks about elimination and zero Covid, clear focus on getting numbers low – we never saw that clarity of vision from England and that’s really hard. We’re still not getting it, and I hope we will get it, but it might take a few more months.”
Sridhar has been a prominent voice on the pandemic over the past year, repeatedly urging tougher action to suppress the virus and its devastating impact.
But her outspoken comments have attracted criticism from Sturgeon’s opponents.
Her comments on independence come after an unbroken series of polls suggest support for leaving the UK.
On the First Minister’s performance, Sridhar said she feels “safer” being in Scotland, adding: “She has done her daily briefings, she has been serious, she has been credible and she has been trying to do her best for the country. We have to give respect where it’s due.
"It’s not a political point – it’s a point about showing up and doing your best for the country. I’ll take the heat for saying that, I don’t mind. I will speak what I think is right.”
