None of the leaders of the UK have done a particularly good job at handling this pandemic

[TitusPullo]

I find it interesting that although the leaders of the nations of the UK have gone out of their way to diverge their nation’s response to the pandemic we are all in broadly the same position. I feel the only impact this devolved response has had is to confuse people who need to move between countries and separate people from their families over borders for a longer period of time.

I respect the devolved nation’s sovereignty to respond how they see fit. I just find it pathetic that 4 leaders couldn’t work out a cohesive plan for the whole of the UK, especially when the current plans are broadly the same with slight tweaks on numbers and dates, not enough to make any serious difference. It feels like at a time the whole country needed to pull together we’ve instead had petty political point scoring to further the divisions between us.

I remember one particularly smug Welsh poster when the Welsh firebreak was announced asking how posters from other nations would feel in however many days when the they were still stuck at home and the Welsh could hug their family and go about their life normally.

What are others thoughts on the devolved response?

Boris et al sorted the supply chain, even though it’s been a bit bumpy you can see from other places (EU) this has been vitally important. But yes the rest is all the NHS and armed forces as well.

From the sound of things, Scotland does seem to be doing best. Maybe we should all fall into line with them.

Yep that would be fine! If only the leaders of each nation could actually work together.

I wouldn't say that Scotland is doing best, but I think there is a general feeling that Scot Gov is more cautious than Westminster, more aligned with Wales in some ways. Whether that equates to "doing better" or not is down to interpretation though. There are plenty of people who would rather we re-opened on Boris's timetable, and others who agree with the slower approach and being quicker to close things. Some people think the lockdown we have now isn't harsh enough, others want it to be over yesterday.

I just think a unified approach would be doomed to failure from the start, given the regional challenges within the four nations where e.g. people think that they weren't hard enough on Glasgow, or were overly harsh on Aberdeen etc.

I guess it depends how you measure success, cases per 100,000 than Scotland has done best, deaths per 100,000 than its NI. But compared to the rest of the world none of the nations were successful.

I’m not sure I am completely on board with regional differences meaning we can’t have a more cohesive plan with the nations working together better. Most countries have vast regional differences but have done better than the UK.

NS has done nothing but score political points of this. If BJ had said black she would have said white.
She's now riding on the back of the vaccine rollout which she has actually fucked up in Scotland and still sits on billions of £s instead of getting to the people who need it. Which is why BJ has decided to deliver money direct to councils and by pass the SG.
And if it wasn't for Cummins the jabs you are now getting in your arms is because it was his idea to separate the investment and procurement of vaccine away from the NHS and set up a task force.

Dominic? Is that you conspicuously self aggrandising

Possibly @HeelsHandbagPerfumeCoffee but no more than I suspect you of being NS.

Haha I’ve not mastered the ayrshire accent I’m afraid and I don’t get a weekly announcement with the delightful Mr Airdrie Jason Leitch

I’d have felt the same as Drakeford having to deal with Johnson over the pandemic:

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-wales-politics-56321647

He really is awful

I’m sure they all have things they would have done differently in retrospect but I don’t think the other leaders have done anything as stupid as Boris when he opened the primary schools for one day at the point we had the highest recorded cases ever, without any testing, before calling lockdown the next day 🤦‍♀️

@noego And if it wasn't for Cummins the jabs you are now getting in your arms is because it was his idea to separate the investment and procurement of vaccine away from the NHS and set up a task force

I think you'll find it was Sir Patrick Vallance the Chief Scientific Officer that led the decision making on establishing a taskforce on vaccines. Apparently after watching the film contagion Hancock saw the scramble for vaccines and that also hastened their action.

www.spectator.co.uk/article/secrets-of-the-vaccine-taskforces-success

Cummings backed Vallance. His other famous contribution was to fracture public compliance in the stay at home message and damage confidence in the Government's public health messaging.

@ILookAtTheFloor

I agree OP.

I'd be seething in anger if I was in Wales who've not been given any dates around unlocking, and the non essential retail sections being taped up was fucking ridiculous (and I don't like swearing normally!)

Scotland trying to reach Zero Covid and following that goal would also freak me out if I lived in Scotland. However I think they've been better regarding children under 12 exempt from rule of 6, playgrounds open etc than England.

I'm in Wales and I'm beyond seething. It's awful. They tape off everything/shut toy stores etc with no notice just before Christmas and then there is massive pent up demand when they reopen causing more queues and shops to be busier. We can get a hair cut but lots of years in school are still part time. The road map isn't even clear a week ahead and the only thing we know is things won't go back to normal this year.

Our Health Minister, Vaughan Gething confirmed in an interview that the purpose of school closures was to ensure adults stayed at home, by which, let’s be honest, he means mothers. They removed education to control parent’s movements.

I have lost hope that the party I supported for my life until now will see their policies during the last year have entrenched disadvantage and inequality at every level . They have encouraged our society to fracture, finger point and weaponised the police in petty disputes. They have locked women and children in with their abusers. People who are most vulnerable to this disease have been exposed in hospitals and care homes. These were all choices and for the last year the most vulnerable have suffered the brunt of them.

Sturgeon has talked a good game, but that's about it. Under her watch we have seen:

• Nike conference outbreak covered up.
• over 3,000 patients transferred to care homes in Mar/Apr 2020 without being tested.
• Glasgow is still subject to most of the rules introduced during the "two week" circuit breaker lockdown back in October.
• The criteria for regions moving through the "levels" has been ignored, many areas remaining subject to severe restrictions which are not in line with the criteria published by the Sturgeon regime.
• The failure of Sturgeon to resign following her egregious breach of the face mask rules at a funeral.
• Takeaways and other purveyors of junk food remaining open, with gyms and other places of exercise remaining closed.

And the “one week of online learning” that’s been going on since January @scottish83

She’s full of shit

Yes that’s why her approval rating is sitting at 55%
annual Social Attitudes Survey for Scotland consistently shows relatively high levels of trust in the Scottish government.

@HeelsHandbagPerfumeCoffee

Yes that’s why her approval rating is sitting at 55% annual Social Attitudes Survey for Scotland consistently shows relatively high levels of trust in the Scottish government.

That will include the rampant blinkered Nats and the terminally thick so hardly a ringing endorsement

Trying to hard to be provocative and get a response
lame

tbh tone matters a great deal. Neither Sturgeon nor Drakeford have lied or dicked about like Johnson.

They've both looked like it bothered them if people died.

They both prioritised children more.

Johnson has been dreadful - absolutely dreadful. There is going to be a concerted camapign from Tories desperate to stop Sturgeon getting a majority - but IMO she has effectively demonstrated how much better Scotland could be without England.

I'm English and want nothing more than to be rid of English politics!

They both tried to close their borders.

That will include the rampant blinkered Nats and the terminally thick so hardly a ringing endorsement

I think anyone who use the phrase 'rampant blinkered nats' is themselves probably pretty thick

Indeed @cryh
Unlikely to elicit a balanced response

There is a bit of a cult of personality around NS that I do not understand, the same could be said for BoJo though. Drakeford seems utterly uninspiring, and the less breathe wasted on Foster the better. I am utterly disillusioned with all of them.

@TitusPullo

There is a bit of a cult of personality around NS that I do not understand, the same could be said for BoJo though. Drakeford seems utterly uninspiring, and the less breathe wasted on Foster the better. I am utterly disillusioned with all of them.

Absolutely. I think that they're little party logos should be replaced by the baby poo chart options. All just different shades of shit.