Bloodshed and terror as Putin moves on Ukraine
This week, the world held its breath as Russian forces invaded Ukraine, leaving hundreds dead as global leaders struggled to adequately respond to the calamitous situation
Monday, February 21 Hospitality urges Sturgeon to scrap vaccine passport
SCOTLAND’S hospitality bosses have urged First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to scrap the country’s vaccine passport scheme for the sector and end the legal requirement for customers and staff to wear face masks.
Their demand comes ahead of the publication tomorrow of the Scottish Government’s updated strategic framework on living with Covid, which is expected to set out how ministers will manage the ongoing pandemic.
Scotland’s vaccine passport scheme was introduced last year with the aim of enabling events to go ahead despite surging cases of the virus and encourage the uptake of the vaccine in younger people.
Critics, including hospitality chiefs, said there was no evidence that the measure did increase vaccine take-up.
The rules were updated in December so everyone (unless medically exempt) attending settings covered by the scheme had to show they have been fully vaccinated, or that they have a record of a negative rapid lateral flow test (LFD) or PCR taken within the previous 24 hours of entry to a venue.
As well as being required for large sporting events, since October Covid status certificates have been needed to get into late-night premises with music, which serve alcohol at any time between midnight and 5am, and have a designated place for dancing for customers.
PM refuses to comment amid Tory donor reports
BORIS Johnson has repeatedly refused to say if he will resign as Prime Minister if police find he broke his own public health laws amid new allegations of “sleaze” after reports a secret group of ultra-wealthy Tory donors were granted privileged access to the UK Government.
The Prime Minister was questioned for more than 10 minutes on the fallout of the so-called “partygate” scandal surrounding his Government during an appearance on the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme.
But Mr Johnson insisted, despite no obvious legal reason, he could not comment on whether he would quit his job if issued with a fixed penalty notice by the Met Police.
The PM said there is “not a jot” he can say about allegations of parties held in Number 10 during Covid lockdowns, pleading there was “nothing” he could say on the matter until the police inquiry was completed.
However, Mr Johnson said he hoped the public “won’t have long” to wait for the investigations to complete, adding: “I will be saying a lot more about it in due course.”
The Prime Minister handed a legal questionnaire to police on Friday regarding claims that lockdownbusting parties were held in Downing Street. The content of his questionnaire response has not been made public.
Tuesday, February 22 Sturgeon under pressure as Johnson axes all Covid rules
NICOLA Sturgeon will today set out Scotland’s Covid roadmap to recovery and is coming under pressure to reduce restrictions after Boris Johnson scrapped all pandemic rules from this week.
The Prime Minister unveiled his “Living With Covid” plan in the Commons yesterday, which included all restrictions being lifted on Thursday and the scrapping of free tests.
From April 1, most people who want to test themselves for the virus will have to pay upwards of £20 for a box, with firms anticipated to hike prices further than the £3 per test it currently costs the Government to provide them.
The Prime Minster said the UK had passed the peak of Omicron, with falling cases and hospital admissions, and added that we could now complete the “transition back towards normality”, while retaining contingencies to respond to a Covid resurgence or a new variant.
UK tax cash is ‘squandered’ on oil and gas
THE UK Government is “squandering” taxpayers’ cash by propping up North Sea oil and gas firms, a think-tank has said.
The Green Alliance has produced a new report which outlines the damage of giving tax relief and subsidies to energy giants, and calls for them to be reassessed.
A former energy minster and serving Tory MP has backed the calls, saying that the UK Government has to ensure there is a “balance” between the subsidies and
net-zero ambitions. According to the report, published today, the tax regime for oil and gas firms has created a “skewed” system and it no longer makes economic sense to grant more extraction licences.
Wednesday, February 23 Scotland to scrap all Covid restrictions from March 21
ALL of Scotland’s legal Covid restrictions will end on March 21, with vaccine passports scrapped from Monday under long-term plans to manage the virus and return to normal life, the Scottish Government confirmed.
Proof of vaccination, or more recently a negative test, has been required since October for entry into large events such as football matches or concerts, as well as venues such as nightclubs.
Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that the scheme will be dropped from February 28 as she said the approach to Covid in the months and years ahead will “rely predominantly on vaccines, treatments, and sensible public health behaviours and adaptations”. Face masks in indoor settings such as shops and public transport will no longer be a legal requirement in Scotland from March 21, but there is uncertainty over the long-term roles of testing and self-isolation from spring onwards.
The Scottish Government’s revised Strategic Framework also sets out the potential for measures such as physical distancing and vaccine passports across a wider range of settings to be reintroduced in future “high-risk” scenarios where a variant emerged which was both more transmissible and more severe than Omicron.
In exceptional situations – where the strain also has “significant immune escape”, blunting vaccine effectiveness – there could be legal limits again on social gatherings and the forced closure of some non-essential services such as gyms or hospitality.
However, Ms Sturgeon stressed that the current trajectory of the pandemic in Scotland indicates that the threat level will move from medium to low risk over the coming weeks.
Putin gets nod for broader military action against Kyiv
RUSSIAN legislators have authorised Vladimir Putin to use military force outside the country in a move that signals a broader attack on Ukraine.
Several European leaders said Russian troops rolled into the rebelheld areas in eastern Ukraine after Putin recognised their independence.
But it was unclear how large the deployment was, and Ukraine and its western allies have long said Russian troops were fighting in the region, allegations that Moscow always denied.
Members of the upper house, the Federation Council, voted unanimously to allow Russian president Putin to use military force outside Russia – effectively formalising a military deployment to the rebel regions, where an eight-year conflict has killed nearly 14,000 people.
Thursday, February 24 NHS Recovery Plan will be ‘difficult to deliver’ by 2026
PLANS to drastically increase the volume of elective procedures carried out on the NHS in Scotland by 2026 will be “stretching and difficult to deliver”, a new report has warned.
Scotland’s public spending watchdog said that ambitious targets to increase activity above pre-pandemic levels could also “undermine the desire to improve staff wellbeing”.
In its annual review of the state of the health service, Audit Scotland cast doubt on the Scottish Government’s ability to tackle waiting list backlogs through the creation of a network of National Treatment Centres (NTCs) – a key plank of its NHS Recovery Plan.
The Government has earmarked £400 million towards establishing an additional eight dedicated elective hubs based on the Golden Jubilee blueprint, largely specialising in orthopedics, urology, general surgery, eye procedures, and diagnostic tests such as MRI, CT scans, and endoscopy.
The first – in Forth Valley, Fife and Inverness – are timetabled to become operational this year, with facilities in Ayrshire, Cumbernauld, Livingston, Perth and Aberdeen due between 2025 and 2026.
The Scottish Government has pledged to recruit an extra 1,500 new clinical and non-clinical staff for the NTCs by 2026, with a goal of ramping up inpatient and day case activity to 20 per cent above pre-pandemic levels. Outpatient appointments are also due to increase by 10 per cent above pre-pandemic levels through “redesigned pathways”.
It comes as figures published on Tuesday revealed that the number of people in Scotland on waiting lists for inpatient, day case and outpatient procedures has ballooned to more than 500,000, with a further 140,000 waiting for diagnostic tests.
Scottish fraud accused wins US extradition appeal
A SCOT wanted in the US for allegedly masterminding a £1.2 million fraud has successfully halted his extradition following a longrunning legal battle.
James Craig is alleged to have used social media site Twitter to spread false rumours about firms in order to buy shares at a lower price – a move said to have cost investors $1.6 million.
The US authorities sought his extradition in 2017, but a string of legal cases then ensued, with Mr Craig, of Dunragit in Dumfries and Galloway, fighting against his removal.
The Supreme Court has now upheld his latest appeal, with five judges ruling that his human rights were breached, due to a legal measure which could have helped his case not being in place in Scotland.
Friday, February 25 UK unleashes toughest sanctions ever on Russia
BORIS Johnson has announced the toughest set of sanctions ever imposed by the UK in retaliation against
Russian’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin launched an offensive overnight on Wednesday, attacking the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other locations across the country, by land, sea and air. Fighting continued throughout the day, with an airport to the north of Kyiv falling to the Russians early in the conflict.
It appeared to have been taken back by Ukrainian soldiers hours later.
In a chilling statement prior to the full invasion, president Putin warned that if any countries attempted to interfere with the conflict they would feel “consequences they have never seen”. The Kremlin said Russia did not intend to occupy Ukraine, with Putin claiming any responsibility for bloodshed would lie with the Ukrainians.
However, Western officials said it was unclear whether Putin wanted to take over Ukraine entirely.
Hospital chief award a ‘kick in the guts’ says widow
THE widow of a man who died after being infected by a fungus at Glasgow’s main hospital has said it was a “kick in the guts” to learn the health board had handed an award to its chief executive.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde gave an “excellence in leadership award” to chief executive Jane Grant and the health board’s senior leadership team at its annual awards, sparking outrage among critics of its management.
Louise Slorance, whose husband Andrew died in 2020, has accused the health board of covering up the fact he had been infected by a potentially deadly fungus caused by a type of mould while in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) for treatment for cancer and coronavirus.
Saturday, February 26 Ewing wants to ‘maximise’ North Sea gas production
ONE of the SNP’s most senior parliamentarians has called for Scotland to “maximise” North Sea gas production in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and fears over global shortages. Fergus Ewing, the former Scottish Government Cabinet minister, is being backed by a senior economist who says “there is a case” for several new gas fields off the Scottish coast to be allowed to operate.
Mr Ewing spoke out following the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Oil and gas prices have surged after Russian forces invaded the neighbouring country. The SNP MSP, convener of Holyrood’s cross party group on oil and gas, said exploiting domestic supplies would reduce Scotland’s carbon footprint and cut a dependence on imported gas.
He said it was “essential” the oil and gas sector implemented the North Sea transition deal to cut C02 emissions but that the goal required the creation of a new carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility off the Aberdeenshire coast.
“It is vital that in Scotland and the UK we maximise gas production domestically,” he said. He added the move would reduce Scotland’s carbon footprint.
Mr Ewing said: “A thriving oil and gas sector here is essential for CCS to be developed, by a mature industry to create a new one. Only the oil and gas sector have the know-how.” Only 45 per cent of Scotland and the wider UK’s gas supplies comes from the North Sea.
UK freezes Putin’s assets as Ukraine calls for troops
THE UK is to sanction Vladimir Putin and his foreign minister as part of a plan for stricter economic action against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
The move against the Russian president and Sergei Lavrov is largely symbolic, but is intended to show the determination to take further action in response to the conflict. The EU is also considering a similar move, as part of a raft of sanctions finalised yesterday against Russian banks, the country’s oligarchs and government ministers.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden revealed their strict sanctions packages on Thursday, also aimed at crippling the Russian economy.
Last night Mr Johnson confirmed he would be penalising Putin and Lavrov “imminently”. Speaking after a Nato phone call, a Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister told the group that a catastrophe was engulfing Ukraine, and president Putin was engaging in a revanchist mission to over-turn post-Cold War order.
“He warned the group that the Russian president’s ambitions might not stop there and that this was a Euro-Atlantic crisis with global consequences. The PM urged leaders to take immediate action against Swift to inflict maximum pain on president Putin and his regime. The UK would introduce sanctions on him and foreign minister Sergey Lavrov imminently,” he said.