Liam McArthur, Liberal Democrat candidate for the Orkney Constituency has called on the Scottish Government to provide urgent clarity around future coronavirus restrictions in the islands.
Liam McArthur said:
“Three weeks on from the First Minister’s announcement about changes to restrictions in mainland Scotland, islanders are still in the dark about what the government intends to do. As a result, there is no opportunity to plan ahead and lives are having to be put on hold.
“Undertaking a consultation is all very well but not as an after-thought, without any explanation as to how it will inform Ministers’ decisions. It is also hard to see how this squares with the First Minister’s commitment to be ‘driven by the data’.
“Everyone recognises these are difficult decisions with uncomfortable balances to strike. However, they are not made any easier for people to deal with when they are only revealed at the last minute.
“It is time for SNP Ministers to come clean with islanders on what they intend to do.
“We are seeing community testing being used extensively across the UK, providing added reassurance to the public and a chance to identify cases before they have a chance to spread.
“For whatever reason, the use of such testing in Scotland has been much lower than elsewhere in the UK. I still believe, though, that pre-departure testing at airports and ferry ports can play an important role as we emerge from the current lockdown.
“SNP Ministers have been sympathetic to this argument but islanders need to know when the government expects to introduce such testing and how the scheme will work in practice.”
There are 4 candidates standing in the Orkney Constituency in the Scottish Parliament Elections to be held on Thursday May 6th .
- Samuel Bown – Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party.
- Coilla Drake – Scottish Labour Party.
- Robert Fraser Leslie – Scottish National Party (SNP).
- Liam Scott McArthur – Scottish Liberal Democrats.
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Two days ago we received an email from our friends in New Zealand, part of which said….
“All good here, we are so fortunate in that we can live normal lives without restrictions. Last weekend we were at a wedding, a few pics attached. No masks or distancing, lots of hugs and close dancing. We don’t take it for granted, we had a couple of mini lockdowns in Feb, it can be taken away at very short notice so we tend to grab any opportunity to do stuff while we can.”
No need to compare the relative situations.
England tells Scotland what to do far too much.
That Man In Number 10, is now wanting to ease up – open hairdressers and gyms again and allow outside hospitality etc.
And – his weird ‘Traffic lights’ idea for foreign travel’ – Eh?
I have a strong feeling of Deja Vu.
Yes, the difference could be said to be the vaccinations – but ……that programme is not yet complete, and won’t be of a lot of use if folk travel to places with variants which laugh at our vaccinations.
Scotland needs to be able to decide what happens in, and in relation to, Scotland. And island communities need to learn from other island communities which are successfully combating Covid.
Enough – what’s the point in my saying this? – it’s bleedin’ obvious!
Ignore people like Johnson and Stockan, work for the good of the people of Scotland – PLEASE.