Back in the swim
Boris Johnson has been accused of bungling the virus crisis amid claims Scotland would not have been able to respond without his help. David Bol reports
BORIS Johnson’s leadership has been “woefully exposed” by the way he has handled the Covid-19 crisis, the SNP’S leader at Westminster has claimed as the House of Commons prepares to reconvene tomorrow.
The Prime Minister is reportedly facing backlash from his own MPS after a host of U-turns in dealing with the pandemic – resulting in Labour pulling level with the Tories in polling for the first time in more than a year.
A snapshot Westminster survey by Opinium put the Tories and Labour neck and neck on 40 per cent – showing the Conservatives have let a 26-point lead slip during the pandemic.
The Liberal Democrats stood at six per cent in the poll – while the SNP are at five per cent, in a Uk-wide poll.
Ian Blackford also warned the UK Government’s decision to end the furlough scheme in October is the “height of irresponsibility” and would “kick the legs away” from Scotland’s “capacity to recover” from the crisis.
But Steve Barclay, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, has claimed that the collective response to Covid-19 has highlighted the “undeniable” strength of the Union.
Mr Blackford claimed that people were weighing up the “very firm” leadership of Nicola Sturgeon during the pandemic with the Prime Minister’s “U-turn after U-turn”.
The First Minister’s approval ratings have held up during the coronavirus pandemic, while the Prime Minister’s has continued to flag, according to polls.
But the Scottish Government has also been forced into a series of U-turns over education during the pandemic – blended learning plans were scrapped, the exams moderation system that ministers asked the SQA to implement was axed and face coverings are to be made mandatory from today in certain parts of secondary schools where social distancing is difficult and on all dedicated school transport.
Mr Blackford said: “The lack of clarity, the shambles of the situation that we had with Dominic
Cummings, a Prime Minister that makes U-turn after U-turn and I think rightly people are making a judgment on what they see as the choice of those two futures.
“I expect and understand that Boris Johnson had a desire to be Prime Minister, but I’m not convinced that he’s got the character and he has what it takes to be Prime Minister at a time of crisis such as this and I think he’s been woefully exposed.”
The SNP has repeatedly called for the furlough scheme to be extended past October, when the UK Government will pull the plug on the support.
Mr Blackford said there are “significant challenges” with stopping the programme, warning “many businesses are going to see three winters”.
He added: “To see its demise too early when the economy’s not in a position to deal with the adjustments that have to be made is the height of irresponsibility.
“If we don’t extend the furlough scheme as is required and this has to be done on a basis of need, then we’re going to put ourselves in a position that we’re going to have a material rise in unemployment that we could have avoided.”
But the UK Government has insisted that Scotland would not have been able to respond to the pandemic had it not been for billions of pounds of funding passed on from Westminster.
Mr Barclay has claimed the support given to Scotland would not be possible without the Union.
He said: “If we hadn’t been able to draw upon the financial backing of the entire UK economy, it doesn’t bear thinking about what would have happened to the people behind these businesses.
“The extra shops that would have been left empty, and the jobs that would have been lost.”
He added: “While, as with families, we might disagree at times, what we
Johnson had a desire to be Prime Minister, but I’m not convinced. . . he has what it takes to be PM at a time of crisis
have achieved since March – protecting jobs and saving businesses – makes the strength of the Union undeniable.”
The minister claimed Holyrood was “one of the most powerful devolved parliaments in the world”, adding that “Scotland still benefits from being part of one of the most successful countries in the world, the UK”.
He added: “Instead of making arguments about powers and process, my colleagues and I are focused on delivery.”
During a visit to Edinburgh in July, Mr Barclay said that a further
£1.9 billion in funding had been given to the Scottish Government to see out the year and fund initiatives to tackle the effects of Covid-19, in lieu of granting more fiscal flexibility for Scotland.
However, Scotland’s Finance Secretary Kate Forbes and other Scottish ministers have repeatedly pushed for the flexibility to borrow more and to be able to move capital underspend over to day-to-day revenue spending.
Ms Forbes has also stressed that Scotland would have been better equipped to respond to the crisis as an independent country.
The UK Government is reportedly facing a revolt from its own MPS over the handling of the pandemic.
Sir Charles Walker, vice-chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPS, has stressed it is becoming increasingly tricky to defend actions by the UK Government action which has seen decisions quickly abandoned by ministers.
Sir Charles, usually seen as a key ally to the Prime Minister, told the Observer: “Too often it looks like this government licks its finger and sticks it in the air to see which way the wind is blowing.
“It is becoming increasingly difficult for backbenchers now to promote and defend government policy as so often that policy is changed or abandoned without notice.
“Whether this approach is by design or by accident, the climate of uncertainty it creates is unsustainable and erodes morale.”