Government must answer for its Covid policies – Letters

Leaders were out of their depth, says reader
Have First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and colleagues been getting it wrong on Covid-19? (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell /PA WireHave First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and colleagues been getting it wrong on Covid-19? (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell /PA Wire
Have First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and colleagues been getting it wrong on Covid-19? (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell /PA Wire

I do not normally agree with Richard Leonard, but on this occasion he is right on the money with regards to the atrocious humiliation of the treatment of Scotland’s elderly and vulnerable from the beginning of this pandemic by the SNP-led Scottish Government (Perspective, 30 June).

My mother, who will be 92 in November, thankfully is in a well-managed care home in Haddington, where the management, and all credit to them, had the forethought to lockdown in the first week of March, as the Scottish Ministers dithered. I quote: “Those who hesitate, are lost.”

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Nevertheless, because of the negligence of the Scottish Government’s failure to implement testing for care home staff and issue PPE, the Covid-19 virus did get into the home in late May; sadly, one resident has since died. Questions have to be asked of the leaders and organisations involved in not just the Health and Safety Executive but all those other organisations involved across Scotland with responsibilities for implementation of good practices in these situations – at times our so-called leaders looked like rabbits caught in headlights. We have heard that there were exercises carried out in 2015 and prior to that for this very scenario, with recommendations made as a result of that, and it appears they were never adhered to. Why?

There is only one office culpable for enforcing and seeing through these recommendation – it is squarely on the shoulders of the SNP Scottish Government and its ministers who were in power. If they had legislated for the implementation of the recommendations, then all parties involved would have got the message, with the recommendations discharged timelessly and enforced across the organisations.

The Scottish Government was unprepared and completely out of its depth. The entire shortcomings of the Scottish Government in its handling of this pandemic, must be fully investigated by an independent body, no ifs or buts.

The findings must be made public and individuals or the whole brought to account. We, the public, require answers, without any attempt at concealment of the facts.

Hiram Dunn, Forester’s Lea Crescent, Dunfermline

Selfish young

The recent shocking scenes at the Daisy Nook country park rave were repeated at several other sites in England. Do young people have the right to break lockdown rules because they’re bored? If boredom and the adverse effects of social isolation are legitimate reasons for ignoring medical advice, what’s to stop any one of us from acting as if we’re not in the middle of a pandemic which could kill those youngsters’ parents and grandparents?

The revellers left enough rubbish to require 40 volunteers to fill 400 bin bags. They could have taken their empty beer cans away with them, since they managed to carry the full ones to the site with no difficulty. Do they think that they have the right to turn the countryside into a rubbish tip?

It wouldn’t be such a problem if these events were held indoors, as used to be the case. When our countryside is subjected to such despoilation it negates every warning about the human impact on our increasingly fragile planet.

I’m no grumpy oldie – I felt the same way about environmental (and other) issues at 18 years old as I do now.

Carolyn Taylor, Wellbank, Broughty Ferry, Dundee

Pelfy lucre

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As cash increasingly becomes associated with contamination, to the extent that it is reported that some households literally launder their money through the washing machine or dishwasher, could I suggest that we revive an old word which literally means “dirty money”, instead of using the word “cash”. The word is “pelf”, which comes from the same source as “pilfer”. It would probably be needed for only a few years until cash itself becomes obsolete.

William Waugh, Cleikhimin, Penicuik

Making a point

Andrew HN Gray (Letters, 2 July) distorts history. The Act of Union of 1707 was forced through by bribery, trickery and the threat of invasion. As for the referendum of 2014, at the start of the campaign support for independence was 25 per cent and the vote was 45 per cent for independence as against 55 per cent for Remain, a difference of 10 percentage points, as against Mr Gray’s 25 per cent.

Colin McAllister, South Street, St Andrews

No change

I note the latest claim by MP Pete Wishart that the rules governing referenda can be changed to suit the SNP’s own biased purpose. But it has to be stressed that the terms of the Scotland Acts are quite clear; and that they were accepted by all parties when the Scottish Executive was established by Parliament in 1998, with amendments in 2012.

Mr Wishart would certainly seem to have a vivid imagination if he believes that all gates are open to the SNP’s whims and beliefs. The constitution is a matter for the UK government and will remain so. The request from First Minister Alex Salmond to hold a referendum in 2014 on the question of Scotland becoming an independent country was granted by Westminster; the people of Scotland rejected the motion by a sizable majority.

As to Wishart’s reference to intervention by the EU in any such matter – what on earth has this got to do with them? It is a British constitutional matter, so is the sole responsibility of the UK government at Westminster.

Why is it that the SNP have turned out to be such bad losers? Ever since their motion was rejected at the referendum in 2014 they have nothing else but howl and whinge about it. They are prepared to try anything to resurrect what was referred to as the “once in a generation” poll.

Members of the SNP see themselves as anything else but British; to them even the EU would be preferable to being part of the UK, except it is highly unlikely that Brussels would welcome an independent Scotland with open arms. The state of an independent Scotland’s economy would be too much of a liability for Europe – just another Greece. And it should be remembered that there was little sympathy from the EU for Catalonia when it contemplated breaking away from Spain.

I question how much thought has been given by SNP followers and their representatives in Westminster or Holyrood to how we would cope with the highly probable outcomes of independence: no Barnett Formula to bolster Scotland’s economic deficiency; higher tax levels than in the rest of the UK; reduced council services; a lower standard of living for the majority of people.

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Any claims by the SNP that things would be better if Scotland was to become independent are pure humbug!

Robert IG Scott, Northfield, Ceres, Fife

Border patrol

I am baffled by Boris Johnson’s statement during this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions that “there is no such thing as a border between England and Scotland”.

If Scotland and England exist, as geographically distinct, neighbouring entities, then there is, by definition, a border between them.

Is this the one remaining case for the Union – to refuse to accept that the different countries actually exist?

If so, then what is it a Union between?

The more I think about it, the more confused I become.

C Hegarty, Glenorchy Road, North Berwick

Land grab

Alex Gallagher (Letters, 1 July) talks about the border at Berwick. I agree Berwick belongs to Scotland!

Colin McAllister, South Street, St Andrews

A little respect

In her letter of 30 June, Gael-Anne Morgan contrasts the appearance of the First Minister and the Prime Minister when appearing on TV.

There is surely a clear message here. Ms Sturgeon , even though she admits to exasperation at their behaviour at times, respects the people of Scotland. She knows her image reflects the perception of seriousness she wishes to convey here and further afied.

Johnson and his puppet master Cummings, on the other hand, have nothing but contempt for the electorate of the UK and demonstrate this clearly in their appearance. The difference in approach is very clear beyond the UK, as my many European friends keep telling me.

Ian Sutherland, Alnwickhill Road, Liberton

Kaiser, chiefly

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I sympathise with the ethic of national unity, so tend to withdraw from letter-writing. But the problem is that when many voters accepted lying politicians as their leaders, skill with lies obscured the truth of what needs to be done.

We are not quite in as much of a mess as Trump’s USA, but we need to recognise that our leading Leave politicians were great admirers of Trump – and like him, like to finesse truth in the interest of activating their base voters.

But the skill of working up anger just leads to cold and fanatical behaviour – obscured by the clever propaganda skills which makes these politicians seem to be all things to all men.

Kaiser Wilhelm II took this approach, with his good welfare policies and reassuring letters to his Russian cousin. People in Europe believed that he would avoid war in 1914 because of his concern for its effect on German industry and people.

He didn’t avoid war because his concern for his people was not real, his fanaticism too great, his capacity for anger too uninhibited.

People believed until recently that Boris Johnson would get a deal with the EU or otherwise have good preparations for leaving.

Now that we have seen how badly this government has dealt with both the pandemic and its likely economic repercussions, can we really expect them to do any better with the chaos of leaving the EU?

Until voters insist on truthfulness as an essential quality for our politicians, the industrial vandalism will go on.

Andrew Vass, Corbiehill Place, Edinburgh

Write to The Scotsman

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