Public deserves answers over Scottish Government’s handling of coronavirus

I do not normally agree with Richard Leonard, but on this occasion he is right on the money with regards to the atrocious humiliation of the treatment of Scotland’s elderly and vulnerable from the beginning of this pandemic by the Snp-led Scottish Government (Perspective, 30 June).

My mother, who will be 92 in November, thankfully is in a well-managed care home in

Haddington, where the management, and all credit to them, had the forethought to lockdown in the first week of March, as the Scottish Ministers dithered. I quote: “Those who hesitate, are lost.”

Nevertheless, because of the negligence of the Scottish Government’s failure to implement testing for care home staff and issue PPE, the Covid-19 virus did get into the

money through the washing machine or dishwasher, could I suggest that we revive an old word which literally means “dirty money”, instead of using the word “cash”. The word is “pelf”, which comes from the same source as “pilfer”. It would probably be needed for only a few years until cash itself becomes obsolete. WILLIAM WAUGH Cleikhimin, Penicuik home in late May; sadly, one resident has since died. Questions have to be asked of the leaders and organisations involved in not just the Health and Safety Executive but all those other organisations involved across Scotland with responsibilities for implementation of good practices in these situations – at times our so-called leaders looked like rabbits caught in headlights.

turned out to be such bad losers? Ever since their motion was rejected at the referendum in 2014 they have nothing else but howl and whinge about it. They are prepared to try anything to resurrect what was referred to as the “once in a generation” poll.

Members of the SNP see themselves as anything else but British; to them even the EU would be preferable to being part of the UK, except it

We have heard that there were exercises carried out in 2015 and prior to that for this very scenario, with recommendations made as a result of that, and it appears they were never adhered to. Why?

There is only one office culpable for enforcing and seeing through these recommendation – it is squarely on the shoulders of the SNP Scottish Government and its ministers

is highly unlikely that Brussels would welcome an independent Scotland with open arms. The state of an independent Scotland’s economy would be too much of a liability for Europe – just another Greece. And it should be remembered that there was little sympathy from the EU for Catalonia when it contemplated breaking away from Spain. I question how much thought has been given by who were in power. If they had legislated for the implementation of the recommendations, then all parties involved would have got the message, with the recommendations discharged timelesslyandenforcedacross the organisations.

The Scottish Government was unprepared and completely out of its depth. The entire shortcomings of the Scottish Government in its handling of this pandemic, must be fully investigated by an independent body, no ifs or buts.

The findings must be made public and individuals or the whole brought to account. We, the public, require answers, without any attempt at concealment of the facts.

HIRAM DUNN Forester’s Lea Crescent

Dunfermline