THE SNP’s Joanna Cherry has been accused of continuing an “unbelievable” focus on Scottish independence in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The charge has come Pamela Nash, the Chief Executive of Scotland in Union, who was responding to an article by the Edinburgh MP in which she called on the SNP to have a “major rethink” on its strategy towards next year’s Holyrood election.

“In the midst of a health emergency, it’s unbelievable that Joanna Cherry’s focus is still on how to break up the UK,” declared Ms Nash.

“Politicians should put aside constitutional divisions to concentrate on working together on behalf of everyone in Scotland at this time of crisis,” she added.

Ms Cherry, who represents Edinburgh South West, hit back, tweeting: "It would be a ludicrous state of affairs if Pamela Nash or@ScotlandinUnion could dictate the terms of ⁦@theSNP⁩ internal policy discussions.

"That is what my article was about. It is she, not I, who is scoring petty political points."

In her article, Ms Cherry pointed out that despite her party’s election promises, Brexit had not been stopped and its request for a second independence referendum had been refused.

“These harsh facts mean that the SNP needs a major rethink of our strategy and not just at Westminster,” she insisted.

The SNP’s home affairs spokeswoman pointed to predictions of the Nationalists winning a resounding victory in the Holyrood 2021 elections but she cautioned against any complacency.

She wrote in The National: “Currently, we are at the peak of a crisis led by a leader who is widely respected and trusted.

“However, when the peak of the crisis is over and we start to return to some degree of normality, that won’t be enough. After the Second World War was won, when Britain went to the polls, voters chose not the leader who won the war but Clement Attlee, who had a radical plan for the peace.

“After this crisis is over, people may well be in mood for radical change in Scotland. We need to make sure the SNP is the party of that radical change,” argued Ms Cherry.

She went on: “We exist to win independence for Scotland not for the sake of it but to make sure that the vital decisions about how we run our economy and our society are taken closer to home so that we can do things differently and better. This means that despite the current crisis, work should be continuing apace within our party on policy development and strategic direction.

“While dealing with the public health emergency and saving lives must be the priority of the Scottish Government, the SNP as a party rather than as a government should be looking to our overall strategy and our policy direction.”

The backbencher suggested parliamentarians had “more bandwith than usual” because Westminster and Holyrood were running to reduced timetables.

“It is worth remembering that the Beveridge Report was written during the Second World War. This crisis, although very different, offers a similar moment of clarity that we should seize and use to embrace fundamental change,” explained Ms Cherry.

She added: “Debate is good and healthy. It is only by entertaining new ideas and sometimes by disagreeing with each other that we move forward to develop policy and strategy. Now is the time for the SNP to do the work to create the vision for the Scotland we want to see at the other end of this crisis.”

The latest row about politicians focusing on constitutional politics rather than on the pandemic follows Ms Cherry’s colleague Ian Blackford yesterday taking Alister Jack to task for “opportunistic politicking” during the Covid-19 outbreak.

The SNP leader at Westminster told Boris Johnson during Prime Minister’s Questions: “Instead of working with the Scottish Government, the Secretary of State for Scotland has been making political arguments about the constitution rather than scientific ones about saving lives.

“And he is not the only one. This is not the time for opportunistic politicking; this is the time when we all must work together, to protect our NHS and to save lives,” insisted the Skye MP.

His remarks followed an article by the Scottish Secretary in which he wrote that the country must emerge from the lockdown “in lockstep” as “one United Kingdom”.

Mr Jack said that while devolution meant Scotland was able to do things differently, it did “not and never has meant that things are best done differently”.

He criticised some unilateral Scottish Government decisions regards the level of business support and the closing down of all construction sites apart from hospitals.

The Secretary of State added: “It is important, as Scotland's two governments make such onerous, difficult demands on people to stay at home and to stay away from family and friends, that we speak with the same voice.

“If we can present a simple, clear, united message, it will be much more effective. The more we feel we are in this together, the more we will pull together; to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.”

In response to Mr Blackford’s criticism of Mr Jack, a Conservative source said: "The First Minister has consistently acknowledged the advantages of taking a UK approach to tackling the coronavirus. We are in complete agreement on that.

"It's unfortunate that Ian Blackford used PMQs to try to score political points. The fact is we need to work together," he added.