It’s England, not the UK, that has been slow to take Covid action

Had he looked over to Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, he would have concluded it was England’s “devolved” handling of the pandemic which was slow and hesitant.

This constant confusion in England about the responsibilities and understanding of the four nations in the UK has been revealed to a greater extent at this time. They quote UK figures instead of the English figures and so on.

It has been revealed in one nation within the UK that it is the English Government and ministers for devolved health in England that are showing crass incompetence across the board, starting with the Prime Minister in his extra capacity as “English FM”.

Never has there been a more incompetent and dysfunctional English Government at Westminster. The greatest paradox is Boris Johnson himself. He was hailed as the great communicator, the public speaker who reached out but actually only to the red wall areas in England with anti-EU rhetoric. The Tory MPs at the last election halved in Scotland. Measured against the devolved governments, England is failing!

Yet, when one looks back he avoided scrutiny, hid in fridges, “ran away” from the Andrew Neil interview. We know why! Now we see him as a bumbling, incoherent mumbler who cannot string two coherent sentences together. A caricature of the proverbial upper-class English twit, and that was a caricature in itself!

His last performance, announcing yet again a U-turn and applying another lockdown in England, which he had ridiculed in a moment of bombast as the “height of absurdity” weeks before, was pitiful to behold. He looked washed out.

Perhaps he is realising he is not cut out to carry out this post at all.

The former clownish London mayor, with his schemes and ideas – the Boris buses harking back to a past and his other follies and stunts – has truly floundered. His usual verbal quips, ad-lib insults and puns are not appropriate for a statesman, which he obviously is not and can never be.

Yet, it was all foreseen. He was appointed foreign secretary in May’s Government and in that role he was conspicuous by being ineffectual. The gaffes, some undiplomatic and cringeworthy, and the mistakes should have been seen as a harbinger of disaster to come. The jester correspondent for The Telegraph did not make the change to Number 10.

What is left for him now? Script writer for Have I Got News For You? Or take up his old journalist hack job at the Telegraph penning lies and untruths about the EU?

With this PM and Cabinet, the English political establishment has truly hit the buffers. England is in deep trouble. Have the ravens in the Tower fled yet?

John Edgar

Kilmaurs

I RECENTLY wrote regarding the SNP and the criticism the party has been receiving from a number of correspondents to these pages.

Now, more than ever in my 74 years, we must be aware of the damage ill-informed letter writers can do to the cause we hold so dear.

To suggest, as some have, that our First Minister does not actually desire independence is absolutely ridiculous. Recent correspondents, critical of the SNP, have now shown themselves to be have been driven by selfish agendas.

Andy Doig, a man I held in high regard not so long ago, was one of these writers. All the while he was writing about the shortcomings (in his opinion) of the SNP, it turns out he was planning all along the launch of the slightly odd Scotia Future Party with its outdated imagery.

So the opinions contained within his letters must now be reconsidered, given he was obviously planning to stand candidates against Scotland’s best hope of independence, the SNP, even while he was writing.

I hasten to add that this is not intended as a personal attack. Just a statement of what is clearly fact.

That’s the problem with so much of the current criticism from “within” and close to the party, or from keen observers, such as the hitherto valuable Wings site, is that opinion and personal interpretations, once published, are taken by many reactionary readers and posters as statements of fact.

What are no more than personal opinions are accepted by ill-informed and sometimes easily led “followers” who see it as statements of fact.

All I can say is that every single supporter of independence must focus on that single aim. Ignore this type of rubbish. I say “must”, because the potential splintering of even a fraction of support caused by divisive nonsense could cost us all independence.

This has happened throughout history. Divide and rule. We must guard against this type of damage (designed or accidental) happening to us.Stick with the SNP and a leadership that has never let us down. See where we are after the Holyrood election. Then draw breath for five minutes before the SNP undoubtedly pushes on to win back our independence.

Lynne Wood

By email

THIS week’s column by Ruth Wishart really hits the nail on the head. There has been a concern for a number of years that SNP conference has favoured a safety-first approach with resolutions merely being reduced to congratulating various Government ministers on their successes.

Although it is good to acknowledge the successes of the SNP Government, this shouldn’t be done at the expense of having an inclusive, engaging and open conference where debate is not only allowed but actually encouraged. Conference should be a forum for new ideas and open debate.

Cllr Kenny MacLaren

Paisley