Sir, – “Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all.”
John Maynard Keynes soaring indictment of capitalism in the 1930s could equally be applied to the economic crisis coming out of the Covid-19 crisis.
Foreign correspondents are shocked at the level of incompetence of Covid-19 by the Conservative government.
The absolute buffoonery of Boris Johnson has been utterly devastating.
Starting with the herd immunity approach.
Prime Minister Johnson and his supporters wanted to let Covid-19 sweep through the country.
He even went on TV to say we should “take it on the chin”.
Such was the PM’s ineptness he could not be bothered to attend five Cobra meetings.
Eventually he was forced to shut the economy down and his message was unclear about who constituted an “emergency” worker.
Then the preparedness was non-existent. The Tories can’t claim they did not know the NHS was not ready. Operation Cygnus was conducted in 2016. This showed the shortcomings.
Once lockdown was under way the Johnson regime decided to leave the airports open.
This allowed people to fly in from Covid-19 hotspots unchecked and untraced.
Then there was the fact PPE had been sent to China. Also there was a shortage of ventilators.
The government even pulled out of an EU scheme to bulk buy ventilators all because of hubris brought about by British exceptionalism.
The Tories even came up with a PR campaign. Getting citizens to clap for NHS workers.
But the last time the Tories “cheered” for the NHS was 2017 when they voted down a pay rise for staff.
This included all the current Tory Cabinet.
To say that testing has been inadequate does not quite cover the grotesque and incomprehensible negligence.
Before even thinking about ending the lockdown this needs to be done correctly.
It is what has saved lives in countries that have used it.
Alan Hinnrichs.
2 Gillespie Terrace,
Dundee.
Westminster behind loans
Sir, – As the chancellor announces new loans to support businesses in this crisis, we should not forget this is a UK initiative from which Scottish businesses will benefit.
Anyone thinking of supporting a new Scottish referendum should ask themselves how they think Scotland’s businesses would have fared without all the support provided by Westminster.
Of course, whether it is actually getting to bona fide businesses in Scotland is another matter, and one meriting an independent audit.
Jill Stephenson.
Glenlockhart Valley,
Edinburgh.
£200bn would buy a lot of PPE
Sir, – The UK Government insists on spending £200 billion to maintain a nuclear deterrent against a weapon which has not been used in the world for three quarters of a century.
Yet for 10 years the government has underfunded the NHS and ignored warnings that the UK would be quickly overwhelmed by a severe pandemic, which they knew could arrive at any time.
And we now suffer the consequences of their careless neglect, with deaths already four times higher than the total number of UK Armed Forces personnel who have died as a result of operations since the Second World War.
That £200 billion could buy a lot of personal protection equipment.
Les Mackay.
Carmichael Gardens,
Dundee.
Take education agenda in hand
Sir, – Surely the delay of the SNP’s education report until after the 2021 election is an opportunity for Scottish opposition parties individually or collectively, to prepare their own report and take control of the agenda and solution.
That would be as opposed to twiddling their thumbs till after they have lost the election then picking holes in a report they can do nothing about.
It shouldn’t take long: Scotland is awash with reports, anecdotes, angry, informed parents and teachers to back this all up, and Reform Scotland’s Commission on Education Reform is a treasure trove of research and recommendations, manned by a who’s who of Scottish education.
We hear hardly a cheap about what the opposition would do, and to be fair the situation is so disastrous that it would almost be political suicide to take it on.
Allan Sutherland.
1 Willow Row,
Stonehaven.
Help for crisis-hit universities
Sir, – Scottish universities could lose up to £435 million in funding next year because of Covid-19.
International students pay up to £30,000 a year but their numbers will slump.
Lindsay Paterson, professor of education policy at Edinburgh University said: “The Scottish Government could insist that all these freed-up university places are made available to Scottish students.”
What a sensible idea provided he and all the well paid – some would say overpaid – university staff take a 20% reduction in their salaries to pay for it and not expect Scottish taxpayers to do so.
Clark Cross.
138 Springfield Road,
Linlithgow.
