THE Prime Minister came to the House of Commons yesterday and gave a Covid statement to the country, a statement that effectively hung the country out to dry! This statement was made at the same time as the daily figures revealed a further 38,000 new Covid cases across the UK!
The PM in this statement acknowledged that the virus has not gone away, but free test kits are going away. Effectively imposing a tax on the sick, a tax on seven million carers as they endeavour to protect their relatives and loved ones from the virus. In this statement from the PM, it was made clear that test kits will still be available, but at a cost, effectively giving the country choices, amidst the cost of living crisis: eating, heating or testing!
READ MORE: Boris Johnson scraps ALL Covid restrictions in England as self-isolation ended
We must continue with testing, and here in Scotland the Scottish Government have no intention of halting free testing, because it has proven its effectiveness and it is the advice of the clinical experts. To do otherwise is nothing short of irresponsible and negligent.
This action by the PM in an effort to appease his backbenchers may well have consequences for us all.
Catriona C Clark
Falkirk
BORIS Johnson has admitted that the broad shoulders of the UK are neither as broad nor as strong as he claimed, in fact they can no longer carry the burden of the £2 billion a month cost of free lateral flow test kits.
It appears that the decision to end free testing and paid self-isolation in England has been taken primarily on the basis of the cost to the government, not medical advice.
This latest change in policy is not based on science or even common sense, as pandemics by their nature require governments and people to take responsibility for the health of others.
READ MORE: Ian Blackford jeered by Tory MPs for criticising Boris Johnson ending Covid rules
However, these who are now being made responsible for reducing the spread of Covid will have to do so without government medical advice or financial assistance for testing and self-isolation.
This looks more like the actions of a Prime Minister who is out of his depth and is doing everything possible to avoid accepting responsibility for his own actions during the pandemic.
The leaked proposals are opposed by almost all senior health officials in England and all the devolved governments. Are UK Government ministers distancing themselves from this change by their silence?
John Jamieson
South Queensferry
I CANNOT find the word to express my horror at some of the headlines in Monday’s press. The Queen “keep calm and carry on with Covid” “still working on light duties” etc etc.
All this is just the press backing Boris – we don’t care if you have Covid (and with no testing you can’t prove it), just get back to work – I have to appease my backbenchers to keep my job.
READ MORE: The Queen tests positive for Covid-19, Buckingham Palace announces
To all of us who have lost family, husbands, wives, partners, brothers, sisters, they should be utterly ashamed but they won’t be – they are appealing to the same people who believed the nonsense about “others” who were stealing their jobs instead of blaming the government for their policies and actions.
They should run these headlines past Kate Garroway and all the sufferers of long Covid.
Winifred McCartney
Paisley
PAT Kane comes across to me as a well-educated intellectual. I’m not ashamed to say he sometimes goes over my head.
In Saturday’s National he defended Sarah Smith (A post-indy Scots public media would be less prone to collapse), but it makes me wonder if he he ever saw her on the BBC politics programmes. The duty of a journalist, no matter their views, is to be impartial.
She was most certainly not, she set the agenda, always keeping the SNP on the back foot, and was openly hostile.
The BBC parachuted her into BBC Scotland months before the referendum; that was not an accident. She put my blood pressure up with frustration and anger. I would never indulge in personal abuse but I can understand why anyone with passionate feelings for independence would lose the plot.
Like many who have sold out Scotland and been given profitable sinecures elsewhere – good riddance to her.
James Arthur
Paisley
I HEARTILY concur with the sentiments expressed by Jim Anderson (Website Comments, Feb 21). It seems that for too long SNP politicians have been sitting back and leaving the field to the Unionists. Where are the counter attacks with any vigour in them? All we seem to get are meek, half-hearted responses. So a few of them might get upset, so what? The more upset they are, the better. Nice guys get sat on.
Other than hold out the distant prospect of another referendum, it seems the SNP collective leadership are content to be seen attempting to lessen the effects of UK actions. They need to be robustly challenged, and not just with indignant outbursts.
Mitigation is all very well, but is not enough as it has been practised too long to register impact anymore. How many more “mandates” do they want?
Drew Reid
Falkirk
IN Saturday’s edition our very own Mhairi Black used the phrase “a record storm of 80mph hit Scotland.” Well, while I realise it was before her time, I must correct her. In January 1968, Glasgow and indeed the west of Scotland was hit with a 100mph gale. If we look back, Glasgow suffered greatly with chimney stacks falling not only into the streets and back courts, but also through the roofs and injuring and killing the residents. I am sure Paisley, her own home town, was also affected.
Ian Rankine
Milngavie
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