FROM outside Scotland, the SNP getting a fourth term in office looks impressive. All the more so given their record. The SNP have failed to deliver on education, health inequality, care homes, ferries, renewable energy and have slashed local government while boasting of tax freezes for business.

But expecting matters such as these to be of significance is to mistake the nature of contemporary Scotland. We have moved beyond issues of delivery in government, or even accountability. In today’s Scotland, flags beat facts.

To give just one example: Scotland has an appalling track record in tackling drug abuse. Deaths in Scotland are more than three times the UK level. Scotland has a fatality rate worse than any EU country. The scandal reached such a level that Nicola Sturgeon had to sack the relevant minister — Joe Fitzpatrick.

This one of the few issues to cause Sturgeon any difficulty during the election. She was widely criticised for dismissing the lethal failure as being a result of taking her “eye off the ball.”

Not that it mattered. Dundee has the highest rate of drug deaths in Scotland. The SNP increased their vote to 62 per cent in Dundee West ensuring the re-election of sacked drugs minister Fitzpatrick.

There has of course been much talk about the parliament’s pro-indy majority and whether or not this will result in another independence referendum.

Not much of such chat notes that the Scottish Parliament has had a pro-independence majority (of almost exactly the same size) for the last five years. Indeed that parliament approved a motion supporting another independence referendum which has been quietly forgotten.

Equally, Saturday isn’t the first time the SNP have claimed a mandate for another plebiscite — they did so after the Brexit referendum (Scotland had a Remain majority) and then after their substantial victories in the 2017 and again in 2019 general elections. Despite these claims no referendum, or even a serious effort towards one, has been made.

If Boris Johnson does put obstacles in the way of another poll nationalists will have every right to raise complaints — because that is Sturgeon’s job.

Before the pandemic struck Sturgeon announced that she was, amongst other delaying measures, setting up a constitutional convention to draw up a new claim of right — something that literally no-one, for or against, was looking for.

The Conservatives, despite having a leader who wasn’t in the parliament and tied himself in knots on numerous occasions, came out with the same number of seats and an almost identical vote share.

This is in part down to tactical voting on the part of Labour supporters. No-one can be happy at the sight of the working class voting Tory but it is entirely unsurprising. Fans of independence in particular have few grounds for complaint.

We have had in government for 14 years a party that has at its core the belief that the politics of nation supercede matters of class. They have mobilised a movement based on the principle that bonds of flag and patriotism are more important than class solidarity and should be the basis of politics.

Having told voters that perceived nationality is what matters most, they shouldn’t slag off people for believing them.

The Scottish Greens had their best ever result and are now firmly established as the Waitrose Wing of the SNP: for the last six years they have been the party the SNP look to vote for their budgets and rescue ministers from no confidence motions.

Looking to build on this, the Greens produced a coalition-friendly manifesto. This lacks measures people would probably think of as being hard-wired into green thinking, like carbon budgets and bus regulation.

The SNP of course have no interest in a coalition. Partly this stems from their incredibly centralising culture. Mostly though, why would they pay for what they can get for free?

Scottish Labour’s new leader Anas Sarwar had a great campaign by every measure except the one that matters. Scottish Labour comes out of the election in a worse position than we went in.

Scottish Labour is still in third place behind the Tories, but with fewer seats and a lower vote share.

A decent manifesto contained some radical commitments. Few of these got much mention — instead the slogan was “a national recovery.” Unfortunately promoting this often came across as a way of sidestepping the constitutional issue. Less like setting a different agenda, more like avoiding the question.

That strategy failed and to avoid irrelevance Scottish Labour will have to begin to think about the issue. That isn’t to say the party should embrace independence or even another referendum, but knee-jerk unionism has failed us. There is a need to engage and reflect.

Stephen Low is a member of Glasgow Southside Labour Party and previously a member of Scottish Labour's executive committee.