BORIS Johnson must be thanking his lucky stars that the successful vaccine roll-out by the NHS has masked the UK Government’s deplorable management of the coronavirus pandemic (lest we forget, the UK still has the highest Covid-19 death toll in Europe, which has suffered the tragic consequences of the Alpha variant spawned on Westminster’s doorstep).
He also must be thankful, at least in the short term and with a little help from the media, that currently required coronavirus self-isolation in England is perceived as having caused the shortage of food and other supplies in our supermarkets when the Brexit debacle should be the primary focus of the public’s ire.
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Of course in Scotland the Artful Dodger can rely on both Tory and Labour MSPs to distract from these disasters, and other failings like “The Plan” for social care that hasn’t yet seen the light of day or the manifesto commitment to overseas aid that was ruthlessly abandoned.
Step up Annie Wells and Jackie Baillie to seek fault with the Scottish Government’s vaccine roll-out performance, which through NHS Scotland has generally proceeded very well and exceeded all projected vaccine delivery rates (with Scotland leading the UK in most coronavirus performance statistics). So far only 76% of 40 to 49-year-olds have been double-vaccinated in spite of Nicola Sturgeon’s stated ambition. While every effort should be made to increase this percentage, a little objective perspective would aid appreciation of the overall context.
While the UK Government continues to stall on holding a full public coronavirus inquiry and UK ministers continue to dodge responsibility for the unfolding catastrophe for Scotland and Scottish businesses that is Brexit, is it too much to hope that opposition MSPs will endeavour to address the “big issues” on behalf of the Scottish electorate?
Stan Grodynski
Longniddry, East Lothian
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