Plea for Britain to unite in Covid fight

Britain must urgently readopt a four-nation approach to tackling the coronavirus crisis, MPs warned as cases and deaths 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 the pandemic has “laid bare the weaknesses built into the UK systems of governance”.

In a report on 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 been linked to coronavirus, with almost half 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 said.

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.”

On 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 urged to “do more to encourage a larger share of migrants to the UK to live in Scotland”.

Committee chairman Pete Wishart said in the food and drink and health and social care sectors “pre-existing shortages of or difficulties in recruiting such key workers have contributed to the already enormous impact of the coronavirus pandemic”.

Responding to the report Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: “We will continue to support jobs and businesses in Scotland through the difficult months ahead.

“We have expanded our Jo b Support Scheme, extended our scheme for self-employed people and provided additional support for business. This is on top of a £7.2 billion in additional funding to the Scottish Government.”

SIGN OF THE TIMES: Hannah McGee takes a picture of a piece of art by the artist known as the Rebel Bear after it appeared on a wall on Ashton Lane in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow’s street art is capturing the global coronavirus crisis. The piece features a nurse wearing a mask and forming a love heart with her hands as the UK continues in lockdown to help curb the spread of the virus.