Why the UK Conservative Government is responsible for Scotland’s Covid deaths

In the Lancet today:

A former minister for health in England wrote to me that “The COVID-19 inquiry will make us the laughing stock in the eyes of the world.” But it is worse than that. The level of criminal incompetence exposed by recent witnesses to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry, chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, has proven that many, if not most, of over 230 000 deaths were preventable. Amid the claims of extreme misogyny, profanity, and chaos that litter the evidence is a story of complete government breakdown.

WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on Jan 30, 2020. The UK Government was confident it could ride out the storm coming from China. Martin Reynolds, who was at the time Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Principal Private Secretary, believed “the system [was] gripping the challenge”. Lee Cain, who was Downing Street’s Director of Communications, thought the outbreak was simply a matter for the Department of Health and Social Care. Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), briefed Johnson about the risk of a pandemic on Feb 4, 2020. Johnson expressed concern about over-reacting. The discussion focused on repatriating UK nationals from China, according to Imran Shafi, then Private Secretary to the Prime Minister for Public Services. Government committees were waking up to the threat. COBR (Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms), a group responsible for managing national crises, concluded that the UK’s public health system lacked capacity for dealing with a pandemic. But the extent of the danger did not penetrate to the centre of government. The CMO reassured Downing Street that there was no sustained transmission outside Wuhan. Then something very strange took place. Johnson took a 2-week holiday. From Feb 14 to Feb 24, he absented himself from Cabinet and COBR meetings, and received little or no further information about the growing risk of COVID-19. Yet it was clear by mid-February that there was sustained coronavirus transmission in the UK. Matt Hancock, then Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, reassured colleagues that a plan was in place. By the time Johnson returned from his vacation, clusters of infection were being reported in Italy’s Lombardy region. The “macho culture” of No 10 translated into politicians and their advisers “laughing at the Italians”, according to Helen MacNamara, who was Deputy Cabinet Secretary. They remained supremely confident that the UK would be world-beating at conquering COVID-19. A meeting of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat on Feb 28 concluded that a global pandemic was now likely (Shafi). Still Johnson and his closest advisers failed to engage.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)02504-7/fulltext

The Scottish Government, advised by the experts such as Prof Devi Sridhar had wanted to follow the WHO advice earlier but could not until the Coronavirus (Scotland Act) 2020 got Royal Assent on 6 April 2020, more than two months after the WHO alert.

We know this from media reports such as this:

Listen to the above to see clear evidence that the Scottish First Minister was alert to the threat being loudly forecast by the World Health Organisation in the first few weeks of 2020 and that the UK Tories, no doubt backed by the Scottish Tories, were reluctant to listen.

What could/did the Scottish Government have done on its own?

It did close schools quicker than in England.

Police Scotland did use emergency powers to close licensed premises earlier.

It could not close events like football or rugby matches.

It could not, of course, close the border.

It could not, on its own, support wages during lockdowns.

Because of the first two, despite the next three, and because of better political communication by the FM and colleagues, consequent greater public compliance and a better staffed more resilient NHS, this happened:

As of 31 August 2023, there have been 193 870 deaths in England with Covid 19 on the death certificate.
In Scotland, there were 17 751.

All things being equal and with a tenth of the population, Scotland might have been expected to have had around 19 387, nearly 2 000 more.

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths?areaType=nation&areaName=England

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths?areaType=nation&areaName=Scotland

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18 thoughts on “Why the UK Conservative Government is responsible for Scotland’s Covid deaths”

  1. “But it is worse than that” is understatement, but the originating comment by an ex Health Minister of “..will make us the laughing stock in the eyes of the world” speaks volumes of what HMG have long focussed on, appearance above all.
    For that is what the UK’s Covid Inquiry is revealing, concerns over political advantage and appearance of UK Ministers supplanted all other considerations in a time of emergency, even with some of the best intelligence available telling them that they were wrong.
    Johnson and Hancock (and others) will never go to prison for what they have done any more than those responsible for the Grenfell catastrophe in Kensington Borough.

    I cannot imagine what will be unpicked when the propaganda war against SG via the media is examined, but I’d bet Alister Jack and James Cook’s role in it will reveal similar priorities, let the bodies pile high…

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    1. ” I cannot imagine what will be unpicked when the propaganda war against SG via the media is examined, but I’d bet Alister Jack and James Cook’s role in it will reveal similar priorities, let the bodies pile high… ”
      I could not agree more Bob, the lives lost and ruined by these sociapathic, evil individuals North and South of the border will have to be reckoned with somehow. Similarly the campaign against the independence movement and individuals within it cannot be allowed to be dismissed as just politics.

      Golfnut

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  2. Dante would need to create another Circle to address the horrific incompetence , carelessness , hypocrisy and downright ” couldn’t give a f*ckness ” of those charged with making the ”big decisions ” and getting so many wrong in the earliest days of Covid .

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  4. Not forgetting of course the ROLE of the Labour party in Scotland who complained to the BBC here about the FM’s daily Covid briefings being too political….(this admission was via George Foulkes about Jackie Baillie’s ROLE in this)….

    Thus the BBC format changed and we then had included ,after each of the daily briefings, an interview with and also (mostly negative) input from a member of the opposition party on what had been said at the daily briefing and what was being done by the Scottish government during the pandemic…..which did much to instil a lack of confidence in, doubt and uncertainty in the minds of the public on what was being said and done by OUR government (which of course was the TOTAL objective of why Jackie Baillie wanted opposition parties to have a say (objections) in this daily event)……….

    All totally counter productive to the message the FM and the Scottish government were both trying to convey to the public during a time that it was imperative that communication was consistent and clear , compliance of rules were understood and adhered to and that trust on what was being done was also essential to the success of keeping down the numbers i.e. preventing people getting Covid……but all that was secondary to the likes of Jackie Baillie as her priority was politically motivated opposition for the sake of it….which as a position is a constant via her and her party via anything and everything connected to the SNP …….which the BBC here is only TOO willing to pander to and also help with via their negative output presented as supposed ‘news where we are’ ……in what is a common cause that unites them, the BBC, with opposition parties to the SNP.

    Also known as a UK stitch up !

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    1. I seem to recall that at one point BBC Scotland proposed to only show what daily health messaging from the FM that “they” deemed to be important.

      There was such a public backlash that the proposal was quickly ditched. It might have been then that we got instead the opposition MSP’s giving their views etc.

      Could you imaging the horror of BBC Scotland deciding what Covid health messaging to broadcast in Scotland, just how many would they have killed?

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  5. The Idiots idiot, Nadine Doris questions whether Michael Gove (I come from Peterburgh…..or is it Fraserhead?) was drunk when confronted by decent people in a train station.
    Surely even Boris-infatuated fathead Doris must realise that Michael likes Westminster’s ubiquitous white powder better than the booze.

    They don’t call him “Noddy” for nothing!

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  6. OT – I could not help noticing on the front page of BBC/UK the infectious smile of Millie Main for the millionth time, clocked the origin as “Glasgow and West Scotland”, and immediately conjured a picture of Pacific Quay’s frontage dribbling with incontinent pigeon contributions, as James Cook desperately avoided damage to his latest suit…
    The title ” Healthboard named in corporate homicide probe ” expands to ” NHS board named in Glasgow hospital corporate homicide probe ” on the article itself.
    Deemed important enough to the people of these Isles to be third in line behind Cherlie boy attending Remembrance Sunday Service yet again, and yet another diversion to Braverman actually being fired, what could possibly be in the national interest ?
    “A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “COPFS asked Police Scotland to investigate a number of deaths at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus, Glasgow.
    Our investigation is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

    Serious “make smoke” being instructed to the BBC these days….

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    1. I note in the BBC article this: ‘Police Scotland launched a criminal investigation in 2021 into a number of deaths at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) campus ….’

      Notwithstanding other positive evidence on the resources available to Police Scotland, I’m beginning to have doubts about the force’s efficiency and/or the Crown Office’s motivation to get to in a reasonable time frame an outcome – a prosecution or not – in politically charged cases.

      After c.2 years, various enquiries and an already lengthy police investigation, the most prominent organisation involved in the ‘case’ has JUST been named as a ‘suspect’! What is going on? Why is the public being so poorly informed on progress?

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      2. “Why is the public being so poorly informed on progress?” might be better rephrased as MISINFORMED.
        Police Scotland being directed to carry out further investigations in specific areas is not of itself unusual, but why was this particular case selected, and what made it of national importance ?
        The former is quickly obvious as they recycle and expand on the original smear campaign over QEUH, with the tail-piece entirely given over to Anas Sarwar’s self-promotion as a champion for “justice”.

        The opening line of ” Scotland’s largest health board has been named as a suspect ” is deliberately pejorative, but we’ve been here before with BBC Scotland – Their ‘Campervangate’ saga presenting X as “was arrested” without explaining the context of “interviewed under caution”, is still repeated to this day – eg Stephen Flynn’s interview by Trevor Phillips, a masterclass in innuendo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP8kdaq14qs&t=226s
        Yes, even the entirely discredited “digging up the garden” was taken out for an airing, the lie which never dies….

        However, this equally underlines your point on the inordinate time taken by the Crown Office, it suggests the difficulty in concluding matters on specific cases is by direction, which is deeply troubling.

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  7. O/T

    I see today the media are in full TORY damage limitation exercise mode….as blame is being apportioned to BOTH those who marched on Saturday at the Pro Palestinian ceasefire rally (for them carrying banners and shouting) and too the violent thugs who answered Braverman’s REAL call for HER preferred version of uber HATE via those English Nationalists who both endorse and support her kind of HATE message (that is via the kind of ‘Nationalists’ that Keir Starmer never highlights as existing or even sees them as being either English or Nationalists as that title is ONLY reserved by Keir for the Jocks who want independence)…………while the SAME media forgot that initially on Saturday, in their quest to get a breaking news scoop, they ONLY showed the far right thugs as being the ONLY ones who were causing ALL of the disruption via their violence and hate…..NOW today much of the media is trying to row row back from what THEY themselves reported on Saturday………….another UK stitch up…..to favour and help a Pro UK party by a Pro UK media……totally ducked up as usual in the UKnotOK.

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  8. An additional note to previous comment….Braverman’s husband is Jewish so clearly SHE is allowing her private circumstances to cross over into her public life as a politician…… that is in WHO she is publicly supporting and WHO she is publicly condemning….via Israel and Palestine………..

    YET I recall during the contest for a new leader of the SNP much was said about Kate Forbes and her religion being a problem with her being a politician and potential new leader of the SNP……..and the strictness of her church potentially impacting any political decisions she may have made if she won the leadership contest in the SNP…….(note also NONE of the OTHER UK leaders, who were Pro UK, religion was seen as or highlighted as an obstacle for THEM in their political lives via decisions THEY make and made…..obvs)

    So hello POT KETTLE BLACK………..but not it seems Pot Kettle Black highlighted via the media here or elsewhere as in this being seen, via Braverman, a conflict of interest via her personal life and public life…..another example in the UK stitch up that favours pro UK parties via the Pro UK media……in UKnotOK

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  9. WAKE UP SCOTS….as…..

    Tories in Scotland are today in FULL deflection mode as communicated by their BBC here in Scotland obvs…..as….wait for it….according to THEM ….the SNP lied about wind capacity percentage…..meanwhile in a place where REAL lies and ducks up are happening at Tory HQ…….we have the following………..

    An unelected Bureaucrat , David Cameron, has been appointed Foreign Secretary….same David Cameron who RESIGNED as PM after the Brexit vote….same David Cameron who was reported in 2021 as him having ” lobbied former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak in 2020 to change rules in order to allow Greensill to join the Covid Corporate Financing Facility, a government loan scheme that was initiated to support companies during the pandemic-related economic recession”.

    Are we really not at the point of all screaming ” I am as MAD as HELL and I am NOT going to take this anymore”……….or are some of our fellow Scots STILL saying….Now is not the time to be MAD as Hell and thus we WILL take more of this……however we will be mad at the SNP……as an excuse for NOT being mad at the Tories……aargghhh

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  10. Ruth Davidson tweeted this yesterday (she is currently in Ukraine):

    “”The war that Ukraine is fighting right now is for Ukraine, of course it is. But it is also for the stability of Europe and the defence of democracy over autocracy everywhere.

    It is incumbent on us to keep paying attention and to deliver on our promises”

    So ….”defence of democracy over autocracy everywhere”

    So …..”keep paying attention”

    So….”deliver on our promises”

    Where is the “democracy” In the current PM appointing a former PM, who resigned his seat as an MP and thus , to try and legitimise his appointment as the new Foreign Sec, the current PM has awarded him a peerage in the HOL ……as HE the current PM is acting as if his party and he are governing in a country that is an autocracy as opposed to one that upholds democracy. ( and where NONE (democracy) is ‘given’ or ‘allowed’ for Scotland in their UK)

    Pray who does Ruth Davidson ” keep paying attention” to and who does she choose to NOT keep paying attention to…..which party does she oppose and criticise and which party does she try and deflect attention AWAY from in Scotland…..and thus she clearly has an attention deficit on all her party have done and are STILL doing on behalf of HER UK……and also what they are doing TO Scotland and our parliament.

    Where has either the Tory party and too David Cameron “delivered on” their “promises” made to Scotland in 2014 as to us being treated as supposed “equals” within their UK….and where Cameron asked in 2014 that we, Scotland, “lead not Leave” the UK……how did THAT go Ruth….yes she, Davidson, is very good at writing and speaking words she thinks make her appear kinder and as one who has supposed morals …but she and her party are very reticent and unwilling to act on their fake ‘virtue signalling’ in tweets and interviews by taking real action that helps people in real need in their UK…….but she and her party are however ever so quick to call out other parties and highlight those things that she and they say that are lacking in them as a poitical party ……Baroness Davidson yet another hypocrite fast tracked to the HOL.

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