Scotsman Letters: Super sponsor plan will add to refugees’ fears

I am confused and sceptical, indeed suspicious, about this idea for “super sponsors”.

Ukrainian refugees rest at a sports arena converted into a temporary shelter in Dumbraveni, Romania (Picture: Armend Nimani/AFP via Getty Images)

The UK have announced their plans to allow a wide range of individuals and groups to take in Ukranian refugees, they will be paid £350 a month to do so, the people coming over will have access to the full range of services, and they can work if they want to. On day one alone, there were over 100,000 applications, and the website crashed, as expected. We know the demand is there and people will participate.

Now, the Scottish and Welsh governments say they want to act as a “super sponsor”. Instead of refugees moving from a holding area along the Ukranian border to a safe home in the UK, they will move to another holding area in Scotland, which will inevitably cause greater anxiety in their lives, and prolong it. Instead of negotiating the bureaucracy of one country, they will now have to negotiate two.

The numbers are interesting as well. You might expect ten percent of the 100,000 applications to come from Scotland, potentially 20,000 people. But the Scottish Government says it will take only 3000, fewer than a sixth of that total. So, Scottish Government is limiting initial numbers at well below expected levels of movement, and the UK government is saying there is no cap on numbers at all.

It seems to be that the Scottish Government is only getting involved in order to be seen to be important in the current circumstances. They have delayed setting up a fully functioning social security agency here because of the complexities, so what makes them think they can administer this? And what will the payment rates be - £351.50 a month and a tartan tammy as a welcome? I fear for the refugees in all this. We need to let them go straight to people who can look after them. Interference from a second government is not required.

Victor Clements, Aberfeldy, Perthshire

Hubris rules

As is to be expected, when it comes to anything Scotland does, no matter what field it may be in, hubris is always to the fore.

It was no surprise, then, that Scotland would not just be welcoming as many Ukrainian refugees as it can, it would be a “super sponsor”, a grand title which I assume was chosen to ensure any watching neutral that we, the Scottish nation and therefore the SNP government were somehow exceptional and standing out from the rest of the UK, and indeed, the rest of Europe. It was little wonder then, that the Welsh government, another inconsequential group of politicians on the world stage, should deem to do likewise.

Perhaps instead of this headline-grabbing drivel, the First Minister in Scotland could apply some of her incredible energy and hubris to explaining where the missing (unaccounted for) £5 billion Covid funding for businesses was spent (your report, 17 March). On at least three occasions in previous correspondence with the Scotsman in the last 12 months, I have asked this question, with no answers or explanations forthcoming. Now we are to believe it was done at such a frantic and helpful pace there was no time to write down the destinations. “Nothing to see here, move on.” So quick to be distributed it was, that Scotland’s taxi drivers were still waiting for assistance until very recently (some of whom waited 18 months).

This kind of lack of attention to detail (for surely that is what this was?) overseen by our lady in waiting, Kate Forbes, beggars belief. But then what would one expect from a minister who receives funds from the UK Government and immediately tells us it’s never enough and claims victimhood at every opportunity.

The only thing “super” about this regime at Holyrood is its vanity, its disproportionate opinion of itself and the powers it uses to suppress FOI at every opportunity available to it. But that is the way of nationalist politics and governments. A look around the rest of Europe should have alarm bells ringing loudly.

David Millar, Lauder, Berwickshire

Energy madness

As much as I agree with the drive to cut carbon footprint it seems crazy that we are sitting on oil and gas which we are actively refusing to extract. We could use this resource to become fuel independent and fund the development of green energy as well as driving down energy costs.

John Cutland, Kirkcaldy, Fife

Caution is good

Scotland is fortunate that Nicola Sturgeon is cautious on Covid and face masks (Letters, 17 March) as this has led to many fewer deaths and cases per head of population over the last two years compared to England and Wales. Boris Johnson’s dithering at the start of the pandemic has proved very costly for the economy and the health of the UK, as by 18 March 2020 most infected countries had put in strict controls – but not the UK, resulting in the third highest death rate in Europe.

Covid patients admitted to hospital throughout the UK increased by 20 per cent over the last seven day, with over 100 people dying every day, and most scientists have criticised the UK government decision to drop Covid safety rules and widespread testing as in future we won’t know soon enough when a new variant develops.

We should listen to experts like Dr Deepti Gurdasani who criticised comments on face masks from Tory MP Andrew Bowie. “I just don't understand how politicians who don't seem to have any understanding of public health two years into the pandemic feel free to wade in and put out completely uninformed and unhelpful rhetoric. We should be doing more not less..." She added: “England is not a good standard for comparison for anything. Yes, England doesn't have mask mandates because of the sheer stupidity of politicians, not because they're not needed!”

Mary Thomas, Edinburgh

Boris isn’t safe

Tim Flinn (Letters, 16 March) would receive 20 Scrabble points for using the quaint word “pettifogging”, but no marks for accuracy.The Prime Minister’s defects are far from trivial: his contempt for the rules and his consistently slipshod, evasive and self-interested conduct are unacceptable at any time, and particularly during a world crisis.The UK is not, of course, directly involved in Putin’s murderous assault on Ukraine, and so Mr Johnson should not expect the degree of patriotic solidarity generally given to a country’s wartime leader.Even then, the incumbent's tenure is not guaranteed. In 1940, during a war that was an existential threat to Britain, MPs lost confidence in Neville Chamberlain and he was replaced by Churchill as PM.And there are surely alternative leaders available, even in the ranks of the current Conservative party, who could offer more expertise and gravity of purpose than Johnson. Ben Wallace or Tom Tugendhat, perhaps?

Anthony O’Donnell, Edinburgh

Have a laugh

I read the article "Och Aye the Noo and Au Revoir" by an English student at St Andrews that has so offended a certain type of Scot. It was extremely well written, genuinely funny and made some excellent points about Scotland and the UK. It reminded me of Austin Powers star Mike Myers' earlier role on Saturday Night Live as the owner of a Scottish souvenir shop whose slogan was "if it's no Scottish, it's crap!".

Apart from their incompetence in government and non-existent viable Independence plan, what gets me most about the movement is their inability to take a joke and their warped sense of Scottishness. The whole package has resulted in me losing my pride in my own country.

These people need to be voted out of every elected body, starting with the Council elections in May.

Allan Sutherland, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire

Fresh ideas please

Just how often does Nicola Sturgeon think she can brush aside a problem with her standard SNP response of " we take this seriously"? Her latest "serious" reply, with little actual content, was to the shocking backlog of court cases in Scotland, but there are so many other issues that could be inserted such as mental health cases, routine hospital operations or even just ordinary hospital consultant referrals etc.

The truth is, running even a devolved administration is frankly beyond the current Scottish Government and any input from the Greens has just exacerbated the problems. Far from being a great government in control of everything, as Ms Sturgeon would like you to believe, we are demonstrably witnessing standards falling in almost all departments, from potholes to ferries. Fixing Scotland's genuinely serious problems requires fresh thinking from a fresh government, not minor tweaks from a tired SNP.

Gerald Edwards, Glasgow

Needlessly nosy

Yesterday, I attempted to complete the online Census information request which according to the instructions issued by the Scottish Government, “collects information about where you stay and the people who stay there”. I was shocked by the extent of intrusive questions, such as personal relationships, past and present employment detail including names of employer, ethnicity, sexual orientation and much else besides.

I refuse to complete the Census as structured since the information required goes far beyond a normal population census, extending to more than nine pages of detail! Is it so impossible to ever see some Scottish common sense prevailing in those in Government who are involved in the designing of such material?

Derek Farmer, Anstruther

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