‘Urgent inquiry’ into Covid handling needed, says Davey
An “urgent” inquiry into the Scottish Government’s handling of the coronavirus is required to help save more lives, Sir Ed Davey has claimed.
The leader of the Liberal Democrats has demanded First Minister Nicola Sturgeon set out a timeline for an inquiry immediately, accusing her of not focusing on what matters.
Speaking to The Scotsman ahead of his party’s conference today, Sir Ed accused both Holyrood and Westminster of being “out of touch”.
He said: “You needed an inquiry from May, certainly June, where it looked at all those issues so we could prepare properly for a second wave if not to prevent it, but to be ready for it, whether that’s care homes, testing, the whole thing, but they didn’t do it.
“They didn’t do it in Westminster, they didn’t do it in Holyrood, and I think that’s a big mistake. We’d be a lot better prepared.
“It’s not about blame, it’s about finding out from the experts, looking at other countries, what lessons do we need to learn as soon as possible at this first stage of the inquiry.
“It’s about what we can do so we don’t get a second wave, and they could have done that, and they should have done that. It’s not rocket science, it’s good government.”
The Lib Dem leader claimed an inquiry was “urgent”, and said he could not believe one had not yet taken place. He said: “I would have thought any government that’s truly progressive would have done that by now, and frankly every day they fail to do it shows that their focus is not on looking after the Scottish people.”
Sir Ed, who last week made his visit to Scotland since becoming Liberal Democrat leader, claimed the leaders of both governments were not focusing on the crisis.
He said: “I just wonder whether Johnson or Sturgeon are getting distracted over their constitutional obsessions when they should be focusing on doing the job which is protecting our country’s health and economy.
“They don’t focus enough on the priorities of the people. I’m getting fed up with it, what are these people doing, do they not realise?
Sir Ed also yesterday insisted that an SNP majority at next year ’s Holyrood election would not give a mandate for a second independence referendum.
He said: “I don’t accept that, because they need to make sure they’ve got the votes in the House of Commons and I was elected to this House on a mandate to oppose a second referendum.
“What I’m saying is to get that mandate you need to persuade people at Westminster and at Holyrood.”
But Kirsten Oswald MP, the SNP’S Westminster deputy leader, dismissed Sir Ed’s comments.
She said: “Scotland’s First Minister has already set out that we expect an inquiry into the pandemic when the time is right and proper, not when we are in the middle of the health crisis and as we deal with further cases and restrictions to tackle the pandemic.
“The SNP’S priority is public health and challenging the coronavirus crisis.”
Sir Ed’s comments are at odds with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who confirmed he still believed that the SNP could have another referendum if they won in May.