Readers' letters: Little hope of shedding light on Scotland's Covid response

My late father-in-law was in a Borders care home during the Covid pandemic when Nicola Sturgeon took the decision to transfer untested patients and those with Covid into care homes. The tragically high death toll Covid caused in care homes is widely known, and the horror of those difficult months is something Scots with elderly relatives in care can’t forget.

Many hope for honesty and transparency from Sturgeon and her erstwhile colleagues at the UK Covid inquiry in Edinburgh, but sadly, this now seems to me unlikely. Sturgeon’s response at similar inquiries has appeared evasive – her Pavlovian replies to too many questions being a variation of “I can’t remember”. We learn that she (along with John Swinney and Jason Leitch) systematically deleted all WhatsApp messages. It’s unclear whether Sturgeon’s have been retrieved, but why did she delete them in the first place, after insisting she would never do such an appalling thing? Deleting communications clearly won’t assist anyone’s inadequate memory. In London, the inquiry’s examination of WhatsApp messages lent invaluable insight into decision-making.

Sturgeon’s actions seem to me designed to conceal at least part of the truth of what really happened in what was arguably one of the most significant times in our history. Is she trying to cover up that she principally copied Westminster yet claimed otherwise? Was her aim to hijack Covid to revitalise her independence ambitions?When Sturgeon appears before the inquiry, we’ll doubtless hear much from her about Westminster and witness her usual blame-game spiel. Yet I fear it’s less likely we’ll achieve an adequate understanding of what truly went on in the nationalist administration during Covid – and crucially, we’ll learn little of what Sturgeon and the rest of the SNP establishment appear so anxious to conceal.

Martin Redfern, Melrose, Scottish Borders

Nicola Sturgeon gives a Covid press briefing at St Andrews House in March 2020 (Picture: Michael Schofield/WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Lack of perspective

It is ironic that Brian Monteith's article (Scotsman, 22 January) comes under the heading of “Perspective”.

Because perspective is what his piece conspicuously lacks. It sounds much more like political propaganda. It is like someone peering closely at a painting and criticising the individual brush strokes instead of standing back, taking in the whole picture and trying to understand the underlying concepts.

The aim of the inquiries into the handling of the Covid pandemic must surely be to understand how we might have been better prepared, how to evaluate the sometimes conflicting advice, whether the steps taken were the right ones and what measures can be put in place to ensure the best outcomes in any future emergencies. I hope that those actually involved in the inquiry do have these aims, or similar, in mind.

Media outlets should be similarly focused on the big, significant issues and ought to be keeping readers informed about them. What is not required are ad hominem attacks on individuals regarding a probably insignificant aspect of decision-making.

The article fails to give any useful perspective on the big question of how to do things better in future and instead repeats the cringeworthy allegation that trying to do the best you can is something shameful to be avoided (in Scotland).

Why do I get the feeling that there is a concerted attempt to show that Scotland is, in every respect, worse than England? Such disparagement is one of the definitive characteristics of an abusive relationship.

Julian Smith, Limekilns, Fife

Barely a whimper

Even with the latest revelations of Covid-related WhatsApp mass deletions and the resultant shame brought on Scotland, there is more it seems to come. It appears those nationalists in charge of Scotland at the time discussed or intended to discuss how the pandemic, from which thousands died, could help reboot the campaign to break up the UK.

There is, however, no feeling of vindication for those of us who continually pointed out the absurdities and horrific maladministration of the SNP. I recall watching the daily Covid briefings and my only thought being: “Who could be taken in by such blatant phoniness? These briefings have been turned into party political broadcasts and ego-polishers.”

There is no “'I told you so” satisfaction for the now-justified sceptics, merely a deep sadness that our country was allowed to slip into the awful state it now occupies, with barely a whimper of protest.

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

Dodgy dealings

I read with interest of the Russian train conductor who threw a cat off a train (Scotsman, 22 January) by forcibly ejecting it from a carriage (presumably it didn’t have a ticket?).

Such a shame that their counterparts at ScotRail don’t have similar powers in dealing with the rampant daily fare dodging between unstaffed stations which don’t have automatic ticket barriers. Small wonder a further hike in fares is imminent.

David Edgar, Biggar, South Lanarkshire

Bad actors?

We regularly hear complaints about Scottish actors living abroad commenting on the constitution when they don’t live here.

However it is the Conservative government which has just introduced legislation meaning any British citizen living abroad can not only comment but can now participate in an election here provided you are registered to vote. And it’s for life. The previous 15-year time bar has been quietly abandoned.

That means any Scot living abroad can actually vote to alter our constitution irrespective of the fact it will impact us, not them. They can happily vote to increase the taxation we must pay but which they have sought to avoid by relocating (look no further than Jim McColl).

More than 3.5 million British nationals living overseas will now be eligible to register to vote despite not paying their taxes here. Furthermore, this will benefit the Conservative party more than any other. Meanwhile these same Conservatives want to prevent overseas citizens who actually work and pay their taxes here from voting in UK elections. That’s the real scandal.

Robert Menzies, Falkirk

Indefensible

Clearly, when Nato generals and others are suggesting that Russia may be in a position to attack the west within the next five-eight years, we need to sit up and pay attention. It is unlikely that Putin will attempt a traditional invasion, as that would entail a nuclear response and he doesn’t want to risk that. His tactic heretofore has been to nibble away by claiming that rebel groups have broken away from the legitimate government and that Russia is merely “helping” such “freedom-fighters”. The “freedom fighters”, like those who magically appeared in the Crimea, are merely Russian soldiers, of course.

We know that he has territorial ambitions in eastern Europe and seeks to re-establish the Eastern Bloc of the post-war world. That is what the former Warsaw Pact countries dread, as they know the level of intimidation and economic hardship that would entail. They do not wish to return to being slave states.

Interestingly, an SNP MSP has a not-so-bad idea of setting up a Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow to protect the north Atlantic, as was the case until the 1950s. Of course, he wasn't thinking of the Royal Navy, but of a Scottish navy of fishery protection vessels, which wouldn’t frighten a flea, let alone the Russian navy.

However, a serious defence of the UK requires a level of spending by the Government of four per cent of GDP at the very least, as we had during the Cold War.

That seems to be pie-in-the-sky at the moment and merely shows that the Treasury is still as dense as it always has been and prefers to penny-pinch and not to defend the UK.

Andrew HN Gray, Edinburgh

Scraping the barrel

Your opinion piece from Alister Jack, Secretary of State for Scotland (January 22) trumpets the Westmister mantra of “drill, baby, drill”. The minister imagines that the more we explore, the more we will find. That may be true in the early development of an oil and gas basin, but the North Sea is a mature basin. The industry is scraping its own barrel.

The most recent report from the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) makes for depressing reading. As of the end of 2022, there were 3.5 billion “proven and probable” barrels of oil and gas equivalent (boe) in UK waters. This may seem a large number but not when matched against the half a billion boe produced every year. At that rate of depletion all such reserves will be gone by 2030. The industry has tried to boost its reserves by drilling over the past two decades but without success. The 2022 replacement ratio was a mere three per cent. If continued at this rate it might extend production by two years at most.

More exploration licences will make no difference to these numbers. Petro-investors now look elsewhere for a return on their capital.

The new oil and licensing Bill is a political stunt. Alister Jack insists that “we also need oil and gas”. Maybe so, but it won’t come from the North Sea.

Jeff Rogers, Banchory, Aberdeenshire

Ferry cheeky

If President Erdogan visits Scotland next year perhaps he’ll travel on one of the first two Turkish-built ferries due for delivery in 2025. A nice, if ironic, touch would be for Humza Yousaf to receive him in one of the staterooms (sorry, unfinished cafeterias) on the Glen Sannox. Just don't mention Turkish repression of the Kurds, Humza.

Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire

Write to The Scotsman

We welcome your thoughts – NO letters submitted elsewhere, please. Write to [email protected] including name, address and phone number – we won't print full details. Keep letters under 300 words, with no attachments, and avoid 'Letters to the Editor/Readers’ Letters' or similar in your subject line – be specific. If referring to an article, include date, page number and heading.