WITH Omicron infections spreading, it will be a difficult Christmas for many, and a hard ending to an unstable year. In 2022, we must ensure that the society we rebuild is fairer and greener than what came before.
Omicron is more transmissible than previous strains, which makes it all the more important that we all get vaccinated, test regularly, and follow all the other rules and guidance that are in place for our protection.
Those rules may have changed between my writing this and your reading it, so please check the Scottish Government’s coronavirus website for the most up to date information.
READ MORE: UK Government 'inaction will make Omicron crisis much worse', Nicola Sturgeon says
One area where I’m concerned that current guidance doesn’t go far enough though is in schools. We know that Omicron is far more transmissible but the guidance for identifying close contacts in classrooms hasn’t changed. This risks positive cases being missed and more pupils and staff having to take time off school than was otherwise necessary.
But, there is only so much the devolved administrations can do while the UK Government fails to provide the financial support that is needed. Downing Street’s response to the first lockdown was characterised by delay and indecision, with other countries responding far faster and having far fewer hospitalisations, and, ultimately, far fewer deaths as a result.
The financial insecurity facing people and businesses right now is immense. That’s why the Scottish Greens have called for Boris Johnson to urgently reintroduce the furlough scheme and raise Statutory Sick Pay, so that we can take protective measures against the Omicron variant whilst protecting jobs.
Even with Omicron now sweeping the country, Westminster can’t resist a chance to undermine the Scottish Government. As the First Minister stood up in Parliament on Tuesday to deliver an update on the pandemic, the Treasury put out a statement confirming that they would provide financial support to the devolved governments.
Within hours it emerged that this wasn’t new money, just an advance on the money we were already due. Then on Wednesday we discovered it was actually far worse. Instead of the £268 million Scotland was due in January, only £220m will arrive. That’s £48m which was already budgeted for which has been cut from our budget.
On top of this, the perfect storm of a regressive National Insurance hike, Brexit and the cruel Universal Credit cut will plunge thousands more families into poverty. The Prime Minister knows this but is carrying on regardless.
Last week’s SNP/Green Scottish budget showed some of the steps we are taking to do things differently.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson 'went to Downing Street party while UK was in Covid lockdown'
Young people and families have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, which is why, with Greens in government, we are putting them at the heart of our recovery.
We are doubling the Scottish Child Payment, which will be worth an additional £500 per year for every child and will help struggling families across the country.
From January, everyone aged 21 or under will have free bus travel in Scotland. This will open up our country while helping household budgets and the environment.
Even prior to Covid, Scotland’s teachers had some of the highest workloads and longest overtime hours in Europe, but over the last two years they have gone above and beyond to support our young people.
Increasing the number of permanent, full-time teachers is essential to begin bringing that workload back under control and making teaching an attractive, rewarding profession.
That is why we are delivering an extra £145.5m to recruit teachers and classroom assistants. That’s enough for councils to offer permanent contracts to all staff recruited temporarily during the pandemic and to add another 1000 permanent teaching posts on top of that.
This is the first instalment of a commitment to recruit at least 3500 teachers and 500 assistants by 2026.
Last week’s budget recognises the difficulties that so many have had and are currently having with their mental health. We are investing a record £1.2 billion in mental health services, including £120m for a mental health recovery plan.
These steps are vital to ensuring that the recovery benefits people and the planet, rather than just taking us back to where we were before. But the inaction from Westminster and the limitations on Holyrood are a hindrance on our progress and a roadblock on our recovery.
With independence we could do even more to invest in people and build a more compassionate society, rather than having to constantly firefight the worst excesses of the Tory government.
Omicron doesn’t just underline the need to do things differently here though.
It emphasises the need for global solutions. In a global pandemic nobody is safe until we are all safe, and it is vital that rich nations with an abundance of vaccines support poorer countries which do not. This would be a far better and more positive step than putting up barricades and ever-tighter controls on people who are fleeing war, conflict and oppression.
The weeks ahead will be pivotal to controlling the virus, and it’s urgent that the UK government learns from the mistakes of the past and does things differently this time, including by supporting a waiver on the patents for Covid vaccines to ensure that countries across the Global South are able to manufacture their own.
This isn’t the way any of us wanted to head into 2022, but in struggle there is the opportunity for transformation. For the sake of people and planet, that is exactly what we need.
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