Why devolution means Boris Johnson's national address is no longer national

It is extraordinary that, in a time of crisis, a UK Prime Minister’s ‘national address’ is no longer a national address.

No sooner had Boris Johnson finished his speech than the First Ministers of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland were instructing their nations to mostly ignore it.

In Scotland, regardless of what the UK PM says, people are not to travel in the car for exercise or have picnics in the park (sunbathing doesn’t exist in Scotland anyway, so no change there).

Nicola Sturgeon is clear: the message is not “stay at home if you can,” in Scotland it is still, “stay at home” - full stop.

This is where there is some conflict: people in England are being told they can travel by car again; people in Scotland still cannot.

Therefore, people in England need to be aware they are not yet allowed to travel to Scotland - such a journey could see them in trouble with Police Scotland for breaking Scotland’s rules.

North of the border, people will not return to work this week - construction companies are not starting up again here even if they are in England.

• How do lockdown restrictions differ in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

It is still unclear if the UK Government has agreed to keep covering the costs of the Job Retention Scheme for furloughed construction workers in Scotland, though, while construction workers are no longer furloughed in England (this scheme is funded by the UK Treasury and Scotland simply does not have the financial levers to cover these costs if it is not paid for by the UK).

Detail like this will become clear in the coming days, but while Sturgeon certainly has the powers to extend lockdown, her reliance on the UK for the money to cover it could end up forcing her hand.

Also, what happens if your English-based company is reopening your place of work just south of the border this week, and you’re expected to go back to work, but you live in a town in Scotland that’s still in lockdown where you aren’t supposed to leave the house?

Lots more detail is required.

What is clear is that devolution is now affecting our lives in more dramatic ways than we’re used to.