COVID is here to stay and we need to live with it

The Scottish Parliament is back in session after the election.

It has been good to see quite a number of new MSPs elected from all different parties.

Unfortunately, with social distancing and ongoing restrictions on the number of MSPs who can attend the chamber at one time, I have still not been able to meet them all.

Nevertheless, from the early contributions being made, we clearly have some impressive new recruits on all sides.

The Scottish Conservatives had our best ever Holyrood election result in terms of the number of votes cast and our vote share, and retained our 31 seats.

The SNP gained one seat and Labour lost two, Lib Dems lost one and the Greens gained two, so overall this parliament looks very like the previous one, with no overall majority.

This means that there is no mandate for another independence referendum, and I hope people will not see that distraction in the next five years.

We have been very clear that the focus for this parliament needs to be on COVID recovery, rebuilding our economy, and our public services, including the NHS and education.

I was very pleased to be asked by our Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross to serve as my party’s spokesman on the vital issue of COVID recovery, and have joined a cross-party working group established by the Scottish Government on this issue.

We held our first debate on COVID recovery last week, and throughout this week there are a number of themed debates looking at how the economy, the NHS, and education can recover post-COVID. It will be a good opportunity to try and get consensus around the way forward.

There now seems to be a broad recognition that trying to eradicate COVID from the population entirely is simply unrealistic, and instead we have to have the suppression strategy.

COVID is going to be with us in the long term, and we now see a number of new variants as the virus mutates.

The lockdown restrictions we have seen over the past year have come at huge cost – both financial and social.

Not only have we seen jobs lost, businesses fail, and those which have survived having to build up huge level of debt, but there has also been the cost to our public services, and the hidden cost in terms of isolation and loneliness, and a rise in mental health issues. We have also seen a huge negative impact on young people in our schools due to the disruption to their learning and to the exam system.

Looking ahead there will be a case for targeted action where we see spikes in COVID cases.

We need to see surge testing, accelerated vaccination schemes, and greater support for affected businesses.

What we cannot see are any more nationwide restrictions, and indeed it is hard to see how these could be justified. Just as we have learned to live with annual outbreaks of seasonal flu, so we are going to have to learn to live with COVID.

I have spoken to many local businesses who are desperate to be up and functioning on a normal basis. This is particularly true in the hospitality and events sector, where there is a need for greater clarity about what will be permitted in the coming months.

Events and weddings are particularly important to the economy of Perth and Kinross, and those working in these industries need to have the confidence to plan ahead.

There is a case for a definitive route map for relaxing restrictions, and I have already raised this issue with the Scottish Government, and will continue to press the case in the weeks ahead.

• Murdo Fraser always welcomes feedback from constituents. He can be contacted at The Control Tower, Perth Airport, Scone, PH2 6PL, by email on murdo. fraser.msp@parliament.scot or by telephone on 01738 553990.