Sir, – Why don’t arrivals at airports get checked, be they returning UK citizens or foreign nationals.
Some other countries at least do a temperature check and, if found to be raised, a Covid test is performed and a period of 14 days’ isolation ordered. The main hub airports in England where 97% arrive, are under the control of the UK Government, the Home Office in particular.
Once they have landed their travel within the rest of the UK is very varied and without extreme adherence to social distancing transmission could still occur.
As I recall, Home Secretary Priti Patel has in the past been quick to stop incomers.
So surely a random returning citizen or visitor with the virus symptoms is something we should stop.
If anyone was going to insist on more checks on incoming travellers I would have bet that Ms Patel would be leading the charge.
Sadly, apparently not as she is alleged to have advised it is a matter for the Department of Transport.
This seems like a body-swerve as good as wee Jimmy Johnstone in his heyday.
Since Westminster is re-opening, maybe we can expect the ERG and Brexiteers to get behind others in the house and challenge Ms Patel to work with the other parts of the UK Government and the devolved assemblies to plug this apparent gap.
Alistair Ballantyne.
Birkhill,
Angus.
Caring must be a two-way street
Sir, – New immigration rules are coming into place, barring “unskilled” workers from the UK.
The Covid-19 pandemic has shown the idea of “unskilled” people being of less value to our country is not only uncompassionate, but evidently untrue.
As well as those on the frontline in healthcare such as carers or cleaners, we now know that bus drivers, supermarket and delivery workers have more than proven their essential status.
According to recent research by the Institute for Public Policy Research, two-thirds of the EU migrants currently contributing to our healthcare system would not have been allowed into the country under the new system.
In the transport sector, the figure is 85%. The people currently holding Britain together could be sent back later this year. Who will fill their jobs?
That’s why I fully support Best for Britain’s campaign to extend the Brexit transition period until after the coronavirus outbreak.
That way, we can make sure we get a deal which works for Britain, and the immigrants who make the UK their home.
We mustn’t turn our back on those who’ve helped us through this crisis.
If someone risks their safety to care for Britain, we should care for them.
Angus Myles.
Dollar,
Clackmannanshire.
Lockdown far from complete
Sir, – Referring to Alex Sinclair’s letter (Lockdown has done its job, Courier, April 22) many of the points he raises are indeed difficult to cope with.
However, it is highly questionable that the lockdown has as he states “served its purpose”.
When we look at the figures given out daily by the first minister and by the UK Government they prove that this is not the case.
Can we assume that those who want to go against all the facts and open up the economy, will not accept medical attention in the event of them catching Covid-19, thereby avoiding putting our hard pressed NHS and Care Homes in danger, while saving them from departing this mortal coil?
George Willmott.
Monifieth,
Angus.
Reducing the ‘R’ rate responsibly
Sir, – We are told each day by the scientists that to stop the spread of Covid we have to get the “R” rate below 1.
Sweden has an R rate currently around the 0.4 to 0.6 range.
Sweden has not felt the need for lock down nor crippled its economy.
Schools, pubs, restaurants shops, hairdressers etc have remained open.
There has been a limit to gatherings of more than 50 and also a strict campaign of hand washing.
There has been no need for face masks – it is a contact not airborne virus – and younger people are banned from visiting elderly relatives.
The deaths in Sweden have been similar to Scotland in that they affect mostly the elderly and those with underlying health problems who all have in common weakened immune systems.
Why have we got it so wrong in Scotland?
Eric Gibbons.
112 Coldingham Place,
Dunfermline.
Covid is chance for huge change
Sir, – At times like this when the whole world is fighting a pandemic you always find one individual complaining about income tax.
The chancellor in London is chucking money about like confetti, and rightly so, but we have Jill Stephenson (Virus has exposed ‘scam’ of university fees, Courier, April 23) complaining about loss of rental income from universities due to no overseas students in Scotland.
The rant goes on about how hard pressed Scottish taxpayers and universities will be.
For goodness sake, the whole world will be under scrutiny but there will be an opportunity to do things differently in this country and the rest of the UK – perhaps the world – after we get through it.
Bryan Auchterlonie.
Bluebell Cottage,
Perth.
Arguments are cringeworthy
Sir, – The current health crisis enveloping much of the world has also been the catalyst for unionists populating these pages with a rash of panicky Scottish cringe.
An independent Scotland’s response to Covid-19 would be “disastrous”, we are told.
Emulating the likes of Norway and Denmark at this difficult time is described as “nonsense”.
This unionist orthodoxy requires no argument or explanation.
It is a simple truth, riding on the back of, “too wee, too poor”, with all the contrary evidence otherwise simply ignored.
What exactly is it that 5.4 million Scots lack that 5.3 million Norwegians and 5.7 million Danes possess?
Are we the international community’s backward child, forever crippled by a genetic inability to govern ourselves?
Scots do not exist in a media bubble constrained by the British Isles’ borders. We are only too aware of the UK’s London-led response to this crisis, which is a model of “disastrous”.
Yet another reason why Scots will vote for independence at the next referendum.
Ken Clark.
c/o 15 Thorter Way,
Dundee.
Back away from independence
Sir, – It is time for separatists to sit up and take notice.
Alex Bell, former adviser to Alex Salmond, believes the nationalist model is “smashed”.
Do those who would want an independent Scotland really believe that it is worth decades of penury just to prove some misguided point and to gain a form of “freedom” – for that is what independence really means.
If Mr Bell is identifying the real result of an independent Scotland, it is time for separatists to take heed and back off from destroying Scotland once and for all.
Douglas Cowe.
68 Alexander Avenue,
Kingseat,
Newmachar.
