AS readers of my blog will know, I have been suffering a recurrence of long Covid over the last couple of weeks, which has led to me feeling well below par. Why tell you this when I am most certainly not looking for sympathy? Really because of what it says about the stories we tell, and most especially the stories that governments tell us.

In 2020 and 2021 the threat from Covid was the story we were told about, and there was no doubt it was real. Far too many people died for anyone with any credibility to claim otherwise.

Now, if governments are to be believed, Covid is over. Testing for it has virtually disappeared. Even in medical situations most precautions have been dropped. The claim is that the pandemic is in the past.

Except that this is not true. There is limited up-to-date data on excess deaths in Scotland at present. In England the Office for National Statistics suggests that deaths are currently running at about 12% above pre-Covid rates, which is significant, although reported Covid-related deaths do not explain all the difference.

READ MORE: Martin Lewis: BBC came close to looking like a 'state mouthpiece' during Covid

That does not surprise me. The reason is that, as I am learning to my cost, Covid is not a short-term illness. For most people with long-Covid, like me, it is a short-term illness with long-term consequences.

According to the ONS, maybe two million people had symptoms of long-Covid in June 2022. Again, according to the ONS around 12,000 people were in hospital as a result of Covid in October this year in the UK as a whole, although that number has fallen since then.

What we also know is that maybe 500,000 people, mainly over the age of 50, have left the UK workforce since the supposed end of the pandemic. Many suspect this is for Covid related reasons, although no one can be sure, because not everyone has been asked.

My point is that all this data suggests that the story that Covid is over is not true. It is convenient. It suits the Westminster government, and the Scottish government has little choice but to follow along. But nothing about what is being said on Covid relates to what is happening in the real world, where Covid is still causing serious problems.

The National: We may not hear about it as much but Covid-19 is still hereWe may not hear about it as much but Covid-19 is still here

Why note this? Because I suspect something very similar is going to happen post the Supreme Court’s decision on the Scottish Parliament’s right to hold a referendum. It will suit Westminster's purposes to say that this issue is now resolved. The Unionist party’s tame poodles in Scotland will be all too anxious to echo this sentiment. The claim will be that independence is just old news now, to be forgotten about as an issue only of concern to those, like the claims made of those suffering with long-Covid, who can’t come to terms with reality.

But that is not true. Perhaps unsurprisingly The National has this week reported growing support for independence since the decision. And the more than 50% of the population of Scotland who are sure that they do not want to be ruled from Westminster are not going away, whatever stories the Westminster government and its lackeys in Scotland might wish to tell.

What is there to do then? The answer is twofold. First, those who want an independent Scotland really must tell a better story. Surely this should not be hard given how bad things are under Westminster rule? However, this always seems to get bogged down in absurd technicalities when bigger narratives, from austerity, to crashed currencies, oppressive interest rates and the denial of investment in new energy and power in Scotland should be the bigger stories to tell.

READ MORE: Ipsos denies 'secret independence polling' after Eddi Reader tweet

Second, the Unionist story must be challenged. What is so great about suffering unnecessary austerity? Why should Scotland use a currency wrecked by Brexit? What’s wrong with investing in the future, which Scotland cannot do? Why should we be outside Europe to which Scotland so obviously belongs?

I like the technical stuff. Let’s be honest, I thrive on it. And don’t get me wrong, the argument has to be won at that level. But that will never win the overall campaign. Bigger, better, bolder narratives have to be told or the Tory and Westminster story will win the day.

Lies delivered austerity in 2010. They did so again to deliver Brexit. Those lies worked. And the Unionist story on independence is just another lie. But unless the lies are challenged by a tale of hope, personal betterment, and most of all, of freedom from fear, the independence cause can’t win.

The story tellers who can get this story out there need to get to their keyboards - now.

Professor Richard Murphy will be discussing long-Covid with Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2 at 1pm on December 9.