MATT Hancock has sidestepped questions put to him by an SNP MP about his failings that led to more coronavirus infections across the UK.
The UK Health Secretary was responding to questions in the House of Commons earlier today and referred to "one NHS" in Britain.
SNP health spokesperson Dr Philippa Whitford reminded Hancock that "the Scottish NHS has been separate since 1948" and under direct Scottish Government control since devolution.
She then asked the Health Secretary about decisions he has made that have made it harder for Scotland and other devolved nations to fight Covid.
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Whitford said: "Last September he refused to follow Sage [Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies] advice for an urgent lockdown and the six-week delay allowed for the more infectious B.1.1.7 Kent variant to emerge and spread across the UK driving a second wave more deadly than the first.
"He has repeatedly claimed to follow the science, so can he explain why he didn't follow scientific advice last September?"
Hancock chose not to answer the question initially but instead called out an "attempt at division within the NHS" as "deeply regrettable" and said the NHS is an institution that makes us "all proud to be British".
Getting round to some form of answer, Hancock said that the government is "of course guided by the science" and they take "all factors into consideration" for "difficult judgements based on uncertain data".
After talking about vaccines, Hancock was interrupted by Speaker Lindsay Hoyle who said: "It's not a statement, it's an answer we require."
Hoyle then handed back to Whitford who said Hancock "would find that most people in Scotland were rather glad" that their NHS is not part of the English system.
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Whitford then noted that one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine is "less effective" against the Delta variant first identified in India, saying it has been allowed to become "dominant" in the UK.
She asked: "Is he not concerned that if he removes all social distancing completely in the near future, this variant will cause a Covid surge among those who are not fully vaccinated?"
Hancock replied: "The opening up and the return of our freedoms is only possible because of the UK vaccination effort.
"In the six months to the day that we first vaccinated across these islands, yes in Coventry, but also in Scotland, in Wales, in Northern Ireland ... since then we've delivered 68 million vaccines across the whole UK, we've saved thousands of lives and the whole of the United Kingdom has been set fair on the road to recovery thanks to the UK Government's vaccination effort."
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