Sturgeon and Johnson must work together to beat Covid, says report

Brita in must urgently readopt a four-nation approach to tackling the coronavirus crisis, MPs warned as cases and deaths continue to surge.

The Scottish Affairs Committee voiced concern that the “lack of regular, timetabled meetings” between minister sin Edinburgh and London could be contributing to a “degree of mistrust” between the two administrations, adding that the pandemic has “laid bare the weaknesses built into the UK systems of governance”.

In a report looking at the impact of coronavirus on Scotland, the committee said the country “was not fully prepared for a pandemic” – despite pandemic planning operations such as Exercise Cygnus in 2016 – and “had not learned lessons from previous exercises in pandemic preparedness when it came to healthcare in Scotland”.

More than 4,300 deaths in Scotland have now been linked to coronavirus, with almost half (46%) taking place in care homes.

The committee heard the virus could result in more than £800 million of Scottish food export sales being lost this year.

“Major sectors of the Scottish economy have been left in a state of shock,” its report said.

Part of any UK- wide public inquiry into the virus must focus on the impact of the pandemic in Scotland, the MPs recommended.

They made the call as their report considered the working relationship between Nicola Sturgeon’s administration in Edinburgh and Boris Johnson’s government in London.

The committee said: “It was clear that effective working relationships between the governments of all four UK nations would be required during the pandemic: a virus does not respect borders.

“We are concerned that a lack of regular, timetabled meetings with no consistent format may be contributing to a degree of mistrust between the Scottish and UK governments from both sides.”

The MPs said it was “not clear to us that Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland has identified a useful role for itself during the pandemic”.

The report stressed: “It is imperative that the UK and Scottish governments work together to learn the lessons from the pandemic. These lessons need to be learned and implemented swiftly to ensure that the response to the continued pandemic is as effective as it could be.”

Meanwhile, on the issue of migration, the committee recommended the number of workers allowed to come into the UK as part of the Seasonal Workers Pilot Scheme be increased by at least 50%.

The MPs warned: “Not having enough people to harvest Scottish food puts an important part of the Scottish economy at risk, along with the ability to feed Scottish people and export food.”

They also said placing senior care workers on the UK’s shortage occupation list, thereby allowing care homes to recruit such workers from overseas, does not go far enough.

Instead the committee recommended all key health and social care workers be added to the list for Scotland – with the Scottish Government also urged to “do more to encourage a larger share of migrants to the UK to live in Scotland”.

“Lessons need to be learned and implemented swiftly

THREATENED: MPs warned that not having enough people to harvest Scottish food could put the country’s economy at risk.