Readers' letters: Time to put Scottish interests first, Alex

"Scotland spends more on its health service and has more GPs, consultants, nurses and midwives per head than England”

Time to put Scottish interests first, Alex

It’s curious that Alex Cole-Hamilton thinks long Covid sufferers would fare better in England (News, August 4).

Perhaps that’s because there are so many more of them south of the border. Scotland’s Covid infection and death rates are far below those of England because the Scottish government has communicated more consistently and clearly throughout the pandemic and has kept mitigations such as face coverings.

It is also highlighting the importance of good ventilation, particularly in schools and workplaces, to prevent viral spread. Fewer infections means fewer people suffering from long Covid.

Scotland spends more on its health service and has more GPs, consultants, nurses and midwives per head than England. A&E and GP waiting times are lower and infant mortality is lower, 3.2/1000 versus 3.9/1000 in England.

The Tories have consistently underfunded the NHS, which is why it was not prepared for the pandemic. And NHS privatisation is proceeding with the Health and Care Act. It gives private corporations seats on Integrated Care System boards and a say in how and where NHS money is spent, so expect cuts in services, the introduction of fees and more fiascos like the £37.5 billion wasted on Serco for a test and trace system that doesn’t work.

In contrast, Scotland’s Test and Protect System is working well and the Scottish government is increasing the NHS budget by 20 per cent, the social care budget by 25 per cent and mental health spending by 25 per cent. Scotland’s NHS staff are receiving a 4 per cent pay rise whereas in England they are getting an effective pay cut.

Cole-Hamilton wants to lead the London-based Liberal Democrats in Scotland. What we need are Scottish leaders that put Scotland’s interests first, not another politician shilling for England.

Leah Gunn Barrett, Merchiston Crescent, Edinburgh.

Hiding the bad news, except in Scotland

It is unsurprising that GB News is struggling to build a significant audience in spite of the prominent involvement of Andrew Neil and an assembly of opinionated ‘Rule Britannia’ hosts.

‘News reporting’ of both the BBC and Sky is increasingly devoted to stories of ‘bad events’ outside England, especially those occurring in Scotland, and are now blatantly deflecting from the massive failings of the Prime Minister and his calamitous government (disastrous for most outside the elite Conservative Party bubble).

When coronavirus infection rates reached record numbers in Scotland, this was reported as headline news, but when infection rates in England later reached even higher numbers this information was effectively buried.

As stocks of certain products have diminished in shops and prices continue to rise, Brexit being the cause has rarely received a mention.

While a record number of drug deaths in Scotland headed news stories throughout the UK, the record number of drug deaths in England was not considered headline news.

When Covid-related daily deaths across the UK returned to a number in excess of 100 for the first time in months, the BBC did not even report the loss of another 168 lives in its prime time news programmes.

Having just returned home from a visit ‘down South’, it is clear that the suppression of ‘bad news’ relating to the coronavirus pandemic is encouraging many to believe that they can now return to ‘normality’, such as entering crowded lifts without any thoughts of mask-wearing or physical distancing.

With much of the mainstream media effectively broadcasting the Tory government view devoid of any serious objective analysis, never mind criticism, is it any wonder that GB News is already redundant?

Stan Grodynski, Longniddry.