They say that only two things are certain in life – death and taxes.

However, if there was ever a third thing to add to that list, it would be the all too predictable inevitably of Nicola Sturgeon banging on about Scottish independence.

Last week, despite the slowing down of the vaccination programme and the pressures being felt by many companies over self-isolation staff shortages, the First Minister couldn’t resist using Twitter to promote the independence campaign again.

It was only a couple of months ago during the Holyrood election that Nicola Sturgeon promised us that she would give the fight against Covid her complete and undivided attention.

With businesses and individuals eagerly waiting to hear if further restrictions will be eased as planned, it seems that Nicola Sturgeon took her eye off the ball once again. Sandwiched between tweets about Coronavirus, she also found the time to publicise an SNP promotional video about independence and encouraged her 1.4 million followers – in the middle of a health crisis – to “get involved” with the campaign for independence. And the First Minister wasn’t the only SNP politician throwing a bone to their party’s supporters this week. Fresh from weighing in on a dispute over public health guidance on trains between England and Scotland, Angus Robertson also shared the same video. He claimed that support for Scottish independence is continuing to grow. I’d love to know what basis the SNP’s former Westminster leader is basing this assertion on. The polling trend has been clear since the Holyrood election. Scots are rejecting the SNP’s independence and are looking for our ruling party to do what they promised and steer the country through the Covid recovery. Unfortunately for us, the consequences of the SNP’s misplaced priorities continue to be seen all over the streets of Glasgow. The last few weeks I’ve written extensively about how our city’s decline is as a direct result of the policies of Glasgow’s SNP administration and their ongoing failures to stand up to their colleagues centralised agenda in the Scottish Parliament. Where Conservatives want to empower local communities, the SNP wish to strip control from ordinary people and hoard it for themselves. They simply don’t trust you to take decisions about your own lives.

Just look at how they are trying to spin a positive picture towards cleansing policies in Glasgow.

They can claim all day long that bin collection cuts and the bulk uplift charges are about trying to protect the environment, but we all know it’s because they don’t trust you to dispose of your waste responsibly.

There can be no other reason during the middle of a pandemic that they are actively making it harder for you and your family to keep your homes clean and tidy.

Maybe the First Minister has been in Edinburgh for too long or perhaps there are too many journeys spent in ministerial limos rather than walking the streets that mean she can’t see the waste that is strewn across them. In the four years that the SNP have been in control of Glasgow City Council; fly tipping, missed bin collections, and rodent infestation have all skyrocketed.

It is the consequence of a party whose eye is continually so far off the ball that they don’t even recognise the rubbish strewn city that they’re meant to be governing.