Seven vital questions for the Scottish Government over Covid – Ian Murray MP

Don’t let the Dominic Cummings affair overshadow serious questions for the Scottish Government over its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, writes Ian Murray MP.

Dominic Cummings’ press conference on Monday was unprecedented (Picture: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)

Avid watchers of American politics or even the West Wing will know that the term “DC” means the seat of power in the USA.

In the UK, a reference to “DC” in the political context would normally be in relation to the former Prime Minister, David Cameron.

But both those political abbreviations have been usurped this week by a new “DC” – that of Dominic Cummings – Boris Johnson’s most senior adviser in Downing Street.

Ian Murray is the Labour MP for Edinburgh South (Picture: Ian Rutherford)

Very few political issues get such a reaction from the public as the scandal involving his behaviour has.

My emails have been bursting at the seams with angry and frustrated correspondence from people in Edinburgh.

It is just extraordinary, even in normal political times let alone during a global pandemic, that an unelected adviser to the Prime Minister can generate consistently poor headlines and comment from across the political spectrum.

To make matters worse we were subjected to the unprecedented press conference by Dominic Cummings on Monday evening, with obfuscation, confusion, arrogance, and a conclusion that, to most of the public, said “it is one rule for me and another for everyone else”.

For me, it was a test of integrity, honesty and leadership for the Prime Minister himself and he has failed. Advisers are there to advise, Ministers make the decisions. The PM’s credibility and authority has gone as he has failed to make the decision to dispense with DC’s services.

Unfortunately, what this sorry episode has achieved is to divert everyone away from the task in hand of getting the country out of this crisis and on the road to recovery. It has also underlined the dreadful communications strategy from the Prime Minister which has confused the message.

And it has diverted us away from the real and serious issues here in Scotland.

There is no doubt the First Minister has been a more polished and clear communicator than the PM (which isn’t hard) during this crisis, but this doesn’t make up for the problems we have in Scotland – problems which are not being given the prominence they deserve due to the abject incompetence and distraction of the PM at a UK level.

There are huge questions for the Scottish Government to answer and no adequate responses to date.

This goes back to the very beginning when Scotland appeared to be set to follow the now discredited ‘herd immunity’ plan.

Is this why the public was not told of the Nike conference which turned out to be Scotland’s ground zero – and north-east England’s ground zero – and why subsequent large events and gatherings were allowed to go ahead?

Why did Scotland have a reinfection “R” rate “higher than anywhere else in the UK” at the height of this crisis?

What is the reason that Scotland has the fifth highest death rate in the Europe?

Why are we still not systematically testing all residents and staff in care homes and in care settings?

Why were warnings from a report four years ago about gaps in PPE on the frontline and preparedness ignored?

Why was a test, trace and isolate strategy abandoned in Scotland, and is only now belatedly being introduced?

Why was the decision made to discharge nearly 1,000 elderly hospital patients to care homes without being tested for the virus making it now the epicentre of the virus in Scotland?

I could go on and on.

I have consistently said that I am rooting for both governments to succeed so that we can get on top of the virus and commence the long road to recovery.

But that doesn’t mean avoiding tough questions and scrutiny.

The public needs to trust the process and that means they must receive the answers they deserve.

Ian Murray is the Labour MP for Edinburgh South

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