My interview (22 min) with David McGowran of Unchained Media on Monday 8th June 2020.
My interview (22 min) with David McGowran of Unchained Media on Monday 8th June 2020.
Lyrics by John Robertson music by suno AI
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Thank you for this, John. It is very good.
It is my impression that the SG became concerned and disaffected with the approach of the UK government to covid19 quite quickly.
I had read the WHO report on the Wuhan outbreak of covid19 in February and was asking my MP about why the SG was not following WHO advice. The response I had suggested strongly that there was then, February, a concern in the SG about the UK approach.
On the BBC, for a number of years I have been asking the BBC at different levels to explain why it has never, as far as I am aware, told viewers that the SG lacks the devolved powers to be able to effectively address the fundamental causes of health inequalities. Of course, I never receive a satisfactory response and from Summers no response.
The fundamental causes of health inequalities are repeatedly identified in Scottish academic literature, the Scottish parliament and the Scottish NHS as the unfair, unequal distribution of power, wealth and income among the population. Poor health in Scotland is largely due to poverty. To change that effectively requires that Scotland has control of welfare and economic policies or , failing that, independence.
In 2016, I asked Douglas Fraser why he did not report the financial costs of health inequalities, Mr Fraser, to his credit, did a fairly useful series of reports on Scottish health inequalities. What he did not do, however, was say that the powers to address the fundamental causes of our health inequalities lay with the UK government.
I repeat, I have never heard any BBC journalist tell us that Scotland lacks the powers to address the fundamental causes of health inequalities and other inequalities in Scotland.
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Excellent, relaxed and informative. Thanks for sharing. There was a comment, article or interview I don’t know, but the comment highlighted on one of the fb pages related to ‘Nicola pushing for aggressive action, that they were worried she might go it alone’. It may well be why the power to instigate lockdown was delayed till the 25th of March. The SAGE minutes would make interesting reading.
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Anent your remarks, John, about the different effects of covid19 on BAME people in Scotland and England this might be of interest.
https://www.hsj.co.uk/story.aspx?storyCode=7027761
“Many of these [responses] suggested that discrimination and poorer life chances were playing a part in the increased risk of covid-19 to those with BAME backgrounds.HSJ understands this section was an annexe to the report but could also stand alone.
Typical was the following recommendation from the response by the Muslim Council of Britain, which stated: “With high levels of deaths of BAME healthcare workers, and extensive research showing evidence and feelings of structural racism and discrimination in the NHS, PHE should consider exploring this in more detail, and looking into specific measures to tackle the culture of discrimination and racism. It may also be of value to issue a clear statement from the NHS that this is not acceptable, committing to introducing change.”
One source with knowledge of the review said the section “did not survive contact with Matt Hancock’s office” over the weekend.
The review was published with very little pre-publicity, following claims government was delaying it because of concerns it would stoke racial tension.”
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Wonderful John , more please !
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