We’ll banish the virus if we ALL stick together
JUST a few short weeks ago, it seemed we had turned a corner in our near two-year fight against Covid-19. Thanks to our world-leading and hugely successful vaccination programme, we were looking forward to some sort of return to normality. But the emergence of the highly transmissible Omicron variant has once again placed a challenge in our way.
My message is simple – it is more important than ever that Scotland’s two governments, UK and Scottish, pull together to defeat our common Covid enemy.
For the past two years, the UK Government has been swift to make sure the Scottish Government has the financial certainty it required to tackle the pandemic. And it is vital that the Scottish Government gets that support out quickly to the people who need it and that’s properly accounted for.
I am only too aware of the tough times we have all had as a result of the pandemic. Throughout the coronavirus crisis, the UK and Scottish Governments have put politics aside and worked together to support the people of Scotland and the UK, procuring and rolling out life-saving vaccines, and saving livelihoods with unprecedented multi-billion-pound packages of support.
As we face the challenge posed by Omicron, it is vital that there is no let-up in our joint efforts. We are working night and day to face off the very real challenges that Omicron is presenting us all.
The vaccine booster programme – the most effective weapon in the fight against the virus – is in full swing.
Our tireless vaccinators are aiming for a target of inoculating all adults by the end of the year.
And as we go into Christmas and contemplate the New Year, my pledge to you is that the UK Government will continue to work with the Scottish Government, and across the whole of society, to overcome the virus.
Last week the Treasury delivered an extra £220 million to Scottish Ministers to give them the funding certainty they need during the festive season. And as the Prime Minister made clear when he spoke to the First Minister on Friday, we will keep talking to the Scottish Government to understand what further support may be required.
The cash has followed an unsurpassed investment in Scotland, which has mitigated the worst of the pandemic and was only possible through the pooling and sharing of resources across the United Kingdom, which is the hallmark of the devolution settlement. The merits of this UK-wide approach were demonstrated at the height of the crisis when nearly one million Scottish jobs – one third of the workforce – were supported by the Treasury’s furlough and selfemployed support schemes.
So far, the Treasury has allocated £14.5 billion to the Scottish Government to fight Covid through the Barnett Formula. That is on top of the block grant, which has risen to £41 billion – a £4.6 billion increase which, in real terms, is the highest ever in the history of devolution.
More than 150,000 Scots have been helped by the UK Government’s Self-Employed Support scheme which totalled at least £1.5 billion. More than 100,000 Scottish businesses have been supported with £4 billion in our bounce back loans and coronavirus business interruption loans.
The Chancellor’s Plan for Jobs is getting young people into work through our £2 billion Kickstart scheme. Hospitality and tourism businesses were helped by a VAT cut, while our Statutory Sick Pay Relief package repaid employers for time taken off for coronavirusrelated reasons.
The sheer scale of the support provided is powerful evidence of the UK Government’s determination to defeat Covid 19 and of the benefits of working together.
Further evidence of that collaborative approach has been the sterling efforts of our Armed Forces across Scotland and the UK to support the NHS and the magnificent doctors and nurses to whom we
We are working night and day to face off the very real challenges that Omicron presents
We have been at our strongest when we have stood together in solidarity
owe so much. From airlifting patients from our islands to hospital to setting up vaccine and testing centres, military support has been invaluable.
Armed Forces personnel have used their planning expertise in the Scottish Government’s emergency co-ordination centre. They have worked with health boards on emergency planning and hundreds have helped set up more than 80 vaccination centres to get needles into arms. They also played a key role in Covid testing across Scottish communities, for which we are all incredibly grateful.
By working together, we can overcome the coronavirus nightmare and put it well and truly behind us.
Throughout the pandemic, as so often in the past, we have been at our strongest when we have stood together in solidarity across the United Kingdom. That is the best way of overcoming the Omicron variant and ensuring that 2022 marks a new post-Covid era which banishes the virus to the past.