SO, it’s been about a month since I’ve written one of these columns for The National. In that time schools have gone back, Aberdeen has entered and exited a lockdown, and Glasgow has entered a lockdown. The measures in place in Glasgow haven’t reached the doors of my constituency of Paisley and Renfrewshire South yet, but if people choose to ignore guidance and host big parties indoors – with no regard for any form of social distancing – there is a very real chance that they will.
Covid-19 isn’t gone. It is still in our communities; it is still highly infectious and highly dangerous. Some, though it is definitely a minority, seem to have decided that our new normal is in fact just going back to how we lived before Covid-19 while wearing a mask in the supermarket.
If that is the extent to which you are going to mitigate the virus, I am afraid you are putting you and your loved ones at risk. It isn’t easy, but there is no excuse for throwing away the months of hard work we have all put in now.
The “new normal” also brings with it new opportunities. Those opportunities formed the heart of the Scottish Governments new Programme that the First Minister announced to the Scottish Parliament this week.
As well as the massive toll Covid-19 has taken on all of us personally, it has also had a massive toll on our economy. Already the number of people claiming out of work-related social security benefits has shot up to 2.7 million, and the economy officially entered recession – indeed a deeper recession than the financial crisis of 2007.
The UK Government are pressing ahead with wrapping up the furlough scheme, so it’s highly likely that another huge number of job losses are fast approaching. People are going to hurt even more than they have already.
This is not a normal financial crisis and the response cannot be normal. Those not well off have already been squeezed to breaking point by 10 years of austerity and they cannot bear that burden any further. That’s why the Programme for Government has placed sustainability and fairness at the heart of our recovery from Covid-19.
While the Scottish Government are limited in what they can do by devolution, they are making full use of the power they do have to help those who need it.
There is a £100 million Green Jobs Fund being created that will help create new, good paying jobs as part of our transition from a carbon based economy to a sustainable economy.
There is a £60m Youth Guarantee that will ensure every young person has an opportunity in education, or job or a training place, as well as a £25m National Transition Training Fund being set up that will support some 10,000 people who are facing being redundant as a result of Covid-19.
There is also money being targeted towards those who are most at risk of poverty. In addition, the Scottish National Investment bank will soon be opening. The money it will be investing in projects and infrastructure which should create jobs, while also helping increase the speed of our transition to a net-zero country.
This is just a small example of the things we can do when we take decisions into our own hands. While the UK Government is busy wrapping up the furlough scheme and leaving people with massive uncertainty as they look ahead of the future, the Scottish Government has been preparing this set of policies to protect people.
That’s why I was also glad to hear the First Minister confirm that a draft bill will be published setting out the terms and timings of an independence referendum (including what the question will be. Hint: the answers will be Yes or No).
The majority want Scotland to be an independent country. While it is right that the Scottish Government put everything behind in order to deal with Covid-19, but it is also right that this preparatory work gets done.
As time goes on, we continue to learn more about the virus, how to reduce its spread and treat against it when it does.
Eventually we will learn how to eliminate it completely with a vaccine, but we’re not there yet.
It’s hard, but we’ll get there and this time, unlike the economic crisis of 2007, it will not be done on the backs of the worst off.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel