Readers' letters: Johnson’s Covid plan is irresponsible

"Johnson is risking the vaccine lifeline we have, with the WHO saying what Johnson/Javid are doing is ‘epidemiological stupidity’.”

Boris Johnson smiles during a televised press conference at 10 Downing Street

Johnson’s Covid plan is irresponsible

Scotland’s Covid infection rate shot up recently because of the Delta variant. But England has a much higher number of infections and it is Boris Johnson who is responsible.

Variants arrive because he does not bother with border controls, not enough are fully vaccinated and the NHS is being decimated by privatisation and takeover in the middle of a pandemic.

Now he allows sudden opening in the face of the government’s scientific advisers who warn that the ‘exit wave’ could result in more than 200 death a day and thousands of hospitalisations.

While India, Italy, Canada, Germany. Germany and even the US are getting Covid under control, the UK is not. It threatens other countries, as the high rate of Covid 19 plus vaccine situation is a recipe for cooking variants.

Johnson is risking the vaccine lifeline we have, with the WHO saying what Johnson/Javid are doing is ‘epidemiological stupidity’.

Let us hope Scotland can detach itself from this dangerous Westminster government to govern independently, safely and responsibly in the international community, in line with scientific and medical knowledge.

Pol Yates, Edinburgh.

Gaelic? Chinese will be more useful

Why can the Scottish government not get its head around the obvious, that it should be promoting the teaching and learning of modern European languages, not Gaelic, which is not suitable for formal communication in the present age?

Even Chinese would be more useful than Gaelic. Leave that to interested scholars and put the public purse to a more rewarding project.

How can Gaelic be “a vital part of Scotland’s cultural identity” when only 1.7 per cent of the population comprehend it?

Dr RJM Wilson, East Suffolk Road, Edinburgh.

Climate chaos

The unprecedented and fatal floods in Germany and Belgium highlight the reality of climate change, yet deniers continue to fail to acknowledge the enormity of the problem.

Instead, they suggest that the UK’s carbon dioxide production is so insignificant that the country should somehow be excused worldwide efforts to control the pace of meteorological change.

Yet even a government as nationalistic as the UK’s recognises that the growing instability of weather systems must be dealt with internationally.

That’s why the UK is hosting this year’s COP in Glasgow in November, and not "copping out".

On this question at least, we are neither too wee, nor too poor, to be exempted from responsibility, not just to our own community, but those across the planet.

Anthony O’Donnell, Dean Park Crescent, Edinburgh.

Falling standards

It is not just the stink from the sewage in Princes Street Gardens that is disturbing for Edinburgh citizens.

Where is the money that was supposed to be provided by the Scottish government and by our hefty rates and taxes for Edinburgh infrastructure and other fundamental needs?

Everywhere around us we see neglect. Our roads full of potholes, culverts uncleaned and drains not serviced so rains bring flooding, pavements in a dangerous state - and this is only what we can see on the surface as we struggle around the city avoiding these hazards.

We need answers and transparency. Above all, we need our beautiful city to be properly maintained and not left to disintegrate.

Elizabeth Marshall, Western Harbour Midway, Edinburgh.