Politics

Does political pressure shape pandemic decisions? – BBC News

Published

3 years ago

July 7, 2021

Getty Images

The Scottish government has reiterated plans to lift Covid-19 restrictions in the coming weeks despite a spike in cases. What political pressure are ministers under, and how has it shaped decision-making throughout the pandemic?

Scotland’s exit from lockdown appears to be following the same pattern as much of the rest of the pandemic.

The rhetoric from politicians in Edinburgh is notably more cautious than that of their counterparts in London, but ultimately they are all traveling on the same path.

There is an extra set of steps on the Scottish route – moving to level zero on England’s “freedom day” of 19 July, before scrapping most legal restrictions three weeks later – but the destination and determination to reach it are the same.

Scottish ministers may not use words like “irreversible” or “guarantee” in the rather more flamboyant style of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but they still bat away any notion of a delay or change of plans.

Listen to whoever is sent out to do the latest round of interviews, and they generally find a way to glide smoothly past questions about pressing the brakes again.

This seems a curious thing on the surface – why would a government which has cultivated a reputation for caution wave away the record case numbers which have left Scotland dominating the Euros in the worst way?

The answer is the same as it has been since the world turned upside down in March 2020. Politicians face a fiendishly complex situation, a minefield of competing harms, priorities and uncertainties.

And for a number of reasons, it makes sense for governments across the UK to pick their way through this minefield along a similar path.

To start with, the virus is a unifying factor – it has no interest in borders, and scientific advice has been broadly similar wherever you live.

Leaders are loathe to stray far from the twin totems of The Science and The Data, especially given the prominent role of advisers and clinicians in fielding questions and communicating strategy.

On the political side, parts of the pandemic response have been run from Westminster because they sit in reserved areas – things like border control and the furlough scheme. The vaccine programme – the biggest factor in the current move away from restrictions – is also a UK-wide success story.

And for all the differences in style and presentation, the big decisions under devolved control have mostly gone the same way north and south of the border – from stay-at-home orders to care homes and Christmas.

This is not to undersell the value of good presentation, incidentally. Particularly in the early days of the pandemic, clear and consistent messaging was one of the most important elements in guiding the public through a fast-changing and frankly scary situation.

It’s also not to suggest that anyone has been taking decisions on the basis of anything other than what they genuinely think is best for the country (the bad news for political partisans is that if you accept this is the case for one government, it necessarily also applies to others which take exactly the same actions).

It is however much easier to pitch a message – particularly one as nuanced as the spiderweb of rules and regulations we have lived under for a year-and-a-half – when it chimes across the political spectrum.

There is a measure of political cover in acting together. Before the inquiries have even begun, we have already heard former Health Secretary Matt Hancock defend the discharge of patients from English hospitals into care homes by essentially saying “well the Scottish government did it too”. Nicola Sturgeon also frequently points to the fact governments the world over are wrestling with similar issues.

And equally when administrations do dare to take diverging paths, it sparks immediate questions. Why can people in Carlisle have X when folk in Gretna are stuck with Y?

The pattern is perhaps reinforced by the fact that opposition parties are in a similar bind.

The major parties are in government in other parts of the UK, and thus need to have one eye on decisions made elsewhere before castigating ministers here for doing the same. Even the opposition are locked into a “four nation” approach of sorts.

The Conservatives are keen to make hay about Scotland’s record-high case rates, but given SNP ministers are treading broadly the same path as those in Whitehall they have to do so without demanding much in the way of change.

Labour meanwhile is in charge in Wales, where ministers have not yet set any dates but are making very familiar noises about the weakening link between infections and serious illness.

If opposition MSPs were to suggest a completely radical approach, it would raise questions about why their colleagues, who are actually in charge of something, don’t agree.

They also have fewer opportunities to set out their own stalls at the moment, given Holyrood is in recess until September – only reconvening for two virtual sessions at major decision-making junctures.

By late summer, it seems likely that any differences between the few remaining restrictions in Scotland and England may be largely cosmetic.

There seems to be a divide of sorts over face coverings, which Scottish ministers remain slightly more keen on.

However, it is unclear whether they will be required by law, or if it will simply be a matter of guidance – and thus effectively the same as the arrangement in England.

Remember that when the face mask regulations were introduced, it was clear that there was not going to be a huge wave of enforcement. The idea was that putting the guidance into law underlined to people that it was a serious matter, encouraging more to comply – which they did, overnight, without the need for fines to be dished out en masse.

The big question is whether the post-pandemic landscape will be defined in the same way as the response to the immediate crisis. Will all corners of the UK seek to build back from Covid in the same way, or will different visions take hold?

Many of the same calculations will come into play – we have already heard questions about parity between NHS pay deals in different areas, and rows over when UK-wide schemes like furlough are phased out.

But the Scottish government clearly has designs on a very different future north of the border, given its plans for an independence referendum. In that sense, divergence from the UK is the SNP’s core policy.

That said, one similarity remains – how far those plans are progressed in the year to come may depend heavily on the state of the pandemic, and relations between the governments in Edinburgh and London.

Banner image reading 'more about coronavirus'

RULES: What are the restrictions in your area?
EASING: What rules are changing, and when?
CASES: Where are the latest cases in Scotland?
WHO? The people who have died with Covid-19

Adblock test (Why?)

Source link

Politics

‘Disgraceful:’ N.S. Tory leader slams school’s request that military remove uniform

Published

5 days ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.

Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.

A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”

Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.

“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.

In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”

“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”

Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.

Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.

Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.

“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.

“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.

“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.

“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”

“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

Source link

Politics

Saskatchewan NDP’s Beck holds first caucus meeting after election, outlines plans

Published

5 days ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.

Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.

She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.

Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.

Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

Source link

Politics

Nova Scotia election: Liberals say province’s immigration levels are too high

Published

6 days ago

November 7, 2024

Anne Joseph

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.

Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.

“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.

“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”

The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.

In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.

“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”

In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.

“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”

Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.

Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”

In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.

In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.

“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”

Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.

“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”

The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.

“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.

“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

— With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax

Source link