SO everything that Westminster has done to deal with the coronavirus pandemic has been led by science.

That will be the science which told them not to order and stockpile ventilators and PPE when the outbreak began in China and then Italy. And which told them to ignore the experiences of those countries infected before the UK. And which told them to abandon early testing and tracing.

And told them not to bother responding to British companies offering to change and/or increase production to fill the shortfall. And told them to send scarce PPE to the Cayman Islands, where they have their wealth stashed tax-free, rather than to Scotland and Wales and the desperate British tax-paying folk risking their lives on the front line.

READ MORE: UK official says EU ventilator call WAS political then denies it

And told them to ignore the offer of joining an EU bulk-buying opportunity. And advised them to deny elderly folk who catch the virus in a care home the hospitalisation that could save their lives.

Now, it seems, that science is telling them not to bother using all the testing equipment available each day. Who are they saving it for? If this is indeed following the scientific advice, then we must be very short of scientific expertise in the UK. Otherwise, the performance of this UK Government takes lying, hypocrisy and sheer incompetence to a new unbelievable low, at the cost of a huge number of unnecessary deaths.

We are long past the stage where any honourable Prime Minister and his Cabinet would have tendered their resignations. In the business world, such failures of management that allowed so many deaths would result in prosecution for corporate manslaughter through negligence.

P Davidson
Falkirk

TOTALLY agree with Catriona Whitton’s letter (April 21) regarding the need for radical thinkers in moving forward. Common Weal has been producing papers for a long time now. They surely must be worth a look. Lesley Riddoch likewise with her articles and films. A land tax is a must, and Andy Wightman has shown the way there.

Why establish a think tank of people whose hands are tied, or maybe not, by having vested interests which would stop us looking at all possibilities? Our new bank should be completely free of connections, however tenuous, to anything or anyone less than successful and should have Scotland’s interests at heart.

Filling top positions with people in our new Scotland, be it government, civil service, industry or think tanks should be a carefully scrutinised process, and in my opinion there should also be a salary cap where no one earns more than our First Minister. That would sort the workers from the climbers.

During this time of imposed reflection and through discussion with friends, I find all are overwhelmingly on the same page as Catriona Whitton.

Perhaps the opinion of the people as well as advisors should be sought more often.

Isobel Delussey
Gourock

IN response to your story “Richard Leonard rejects separate lockdown exit strategy” (thenational,scot, April 22), let’s assume that the science says that the lockdown should be eased everywhere in the UK except Scotland.

Should the rest of the UK wait for the science to OK easing of restrictions in Scotland? Or, should Scotland ignore the science and fall in line with the UK and risk more infections and more deaths?

READ MORE: Covid-19: Richard Leonard rejects separate lockdown exit strategy

Which is it, Richard? Unless you tell us which one you propose, your views are irrelevant and potentially dangerous to many people in Scotland.

David Howie
Dunblane

IF you wait long enough, what goes around comes around.

It’s not that very long ago that much was said of Turkey joining the EU and the perceived negative impact that this admission to the trading bloc would have on the UK. It was a mainstay of the Brexit loudmouths.

Allegedly, Turkey was going to take everything, contribute nothing and be a permanent under-performer of the EU.

Now it appears that the UK Government is very publicly going cap in hand to Turkey to bail out the superior state of GB and NI in the crisis of supplying PPE to our frontline NHS and other vital workers. I believe that there’s initially almost 100 tons of these urgently needed vital supplies being supplied by the the previously inferior state of Turkey.

May I say thank you very much to these suppliers in Turkey, the materials are needed and it’s great that you don’t bear any grudge for previous remarks made by certain factions in the UK against your country.

Dougie Gray
Dunbar

WHY is the question-and-answer session which follows the daily Scottish coronavirus briefing given so little television coverage?

A recent session started with the First Minister asking for brevity as she had 20 questions to deal with, but coverage of the session was cut short after only one question had been answered.

By contrast, the question-and-answer session following the UK daily briefing is invariably given full coverage and continues until the UK team has left the podium.

I have just watched yet another excruciating question-and-answer session given by the UK briefing team. Evasive, hang dog, obfuscation. The general demeanour of the participants is that of a schoolboy caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

This is in striking contrast to the candid and authoritative responses provided by the Scottish First Minister and her team at the Scottish daily briefing.

Could it be that the television authorities are actively “editing” Scottish coverage to spare the blushes of the UK team?

HH
Dundee

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