THE prospect of the government being able to define categories of people for compulsory vaccination should raise many questions that require answers and legislation before it is implemented (Covid vaccinations to become mandatory for care home staff in England, June 16).

Has the UK Government decided to reduce opposition by using the memory of the disaster in care homes early in the pandemic to make vaccination compulsory for the least organised group of workers in the health and care services?

As infection levels are now at a very low level in care homes, the government will have to produce strong evidence to convince the public that in the first instance compulsory vaccination is necessary and then that this is the most effective area to begin compulsory vaccinations at this time.

READ MORE: Covid vaccinations to become mandatory for care home staff in England

Why not start with hospital admission and operating theatre staff, who have to deal with undiagnosed cases of the virus and are in positions that can easily and rapidly spread the virus locally, or others in transport and distribution networks who can rapidly spread the virus throughout the country ?

There is no doubt that fully vaccinated staff is the ideal position in all areas but we need to see a case justifying compulsory vaccination as the only answer at this time.

Especially as this is a government that shies away from discussion, negotiation and persuasion, preferring the use of instruction, compulsion and legislation.

John Jamieson
South Queensferry

BORIS didn’t protect borders. The Westminster government didn’t put the health of the nation first. Instead they put the economy first, knowing in their privileged position they were alright Jack, and could ride the storm of the pandemic better than Joe Soap and in fact make money out of it!

The UK took too many risks, thinking it would protect the economy, and as a result neglected the health of the nation. We already know this. We don’t need an inquiry to confirm what we already know. Mistakes have been made and continue. Lessons have not been learned. Ordinary folk are going to lose out to what’s ahead of us.

The agriculture economy and the fishing industry have all been negatively effected by our privileged elite who will never earn public confidence. There is only one route map out of this fiasco. Let’s not dither and allow the mess to continue. Indyref 2 has to happen now! Boris’s indecision and wishful thinking, all-fingers-crossed approach is glaringly failing us!

Robin MacLean
Fort Augustus

I’M sure most readers will agree with Jim Taylor (Letters, June 15) in his call for a Scottish second chamber to be an elected body. But we have this group already, in our MPs. They are our representatives within the Union, the political descendants of those who signed the Treaty of Union. Do we want them simply to be “stronger for Scotland” within the Union, or move us towards independence?

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I see no reason why they shouldn’t form themselves into our future Senate and mirror the 1990s Constitutional Convention: prepare policies for the transition, a basic future constitution, and solutions to the usual questions about currency, borders and so on. If there is a referendum before the next General Election, their work will form its backbone. If not, their SNP members at least can stand on this platform and begin negotiations if they win most seats, followed by a referendum to confirm the deal. That was the SNP policy for decades and can be so again.

It’s time to call time on Westminster to recognise that it no longer serves Scotland’s purpose and – thanks to Brexit, the power grab and the “Global Britain” fantasy – is actively acting against us. Simply “standing up for Scotland” gives the Union a legitimacy it has already forfeited and leaves us bleating on the sidelines, while others make the decisions in their interests, but not ours.

Robert Fraser
Edinburgh

I FEEL sorry for England. It might think it’s a sovereign country but like Scotland and Wales it isn’t. It might pretend that Britain is really England but deep down it knows that is not the case. It’s hampered by a crisis of identity – a split personality of confusion that is rooted to an empirical past fuelled by its emblems of power, the Union flag and national anthem.

England is as much a hostage to Unionism as the other nations. There is nothing wrong with being patriotically English and it is right that England should reclaim the meaning of Englishness from the hard right. However there is also a serious obstacle to a progressive English future – the fourth estate.

After the clergy, nobility and the commoner, the most powerful influencers in England are its newspapers. They set the news agenda for the day for broadcasting and government. As long as the near monopoly of right-wing news dissemination continues, England will continue to be a hostage to fortune. It will continue to be a sad shadow of a cruel Britannia founded on plundering and slavery that the power-brokers, hooked on nostalgia, want a return to. Instead of looking to the

past, England should look to the future. Independence would be as much to the benefit of England as to Wales and Scotland.

Mike Herd
Highland

HAS Big Broon finally lost it? Maybe we should hold on to Trident for a wee while, just in case? (JOKE). My beloved mother was English, my big sister lives in North Wales. If Broon has a quarrel with them, he should come and see me first! For his information, the independence quest is for democracy and against Westminster corruption and imperialism. He should note that the people have spoken.

Andrew McCrae
Gourock