18th July 2021: A Week in Parliament

Covid Update

On the same day, Scotland moves into Level 0, England under the UK Government is lifting all restrictions. Their decision is a farce given they advise wearing masks in public places, yet are removing the laws to make it mandatory. What kind of leadership is this? Throughout June, Scotland had a higher case rate than England. It was as if the Scottish Tories revelled in this, blaming the Scottish Government. Of course, the delta variant arrived here because the UK Government refused to red list India quick enough. In terms of case rates, England is now 75% higher than Scotland. We have been on a downward projection, while at the moment unfortunately England is still on a very steep upwards curve with regards to case rates. The fact the Health Secretary has tested positive despite being double vaccinated shows how fragile a position we are in.

Meanwhile, experts are now warning that the approach in England is a risk to the entire world. This is alarming and 1200 scientists have backed a letter to the medical journal, The Lancet to chime with this opinion. As well as restrictions being lifted, I fear that in England we have still to see the full effects of all the chaotic mixing that happened for the Euro Championship Final. It is the wrong time to lift all restrictions. Given how these people make decisions that directly impact Scotland, this is further proof we need a better system of governance.

Football Racism

I cannot pretend anything other than supporting Italy for the Euro Finals. However, I thought Gareth Southgate has been excellent in the media and how he has conducted himself. Many of the England players are a real credit to themselves and it is a disgrace the racial abuse those that missed penalties suffered. The outpouring of support is welcome, but of course, that display of public support shouldn’t be required. I also welcome that some of the England players have called out the likes of Boris Johnson and the Home Secretary, Priti Patel for giving signals to racists because of them calling “Taking the Knee”, “gesture politics”. It is a fact that Boris Johnson has written plenty of racist articles. His standard defence is they “have been taking out of context”. That is just plain wrong and he never has been fit for office.

Crowds At Rugby Park

Many people have been questioning why Killie are not allowed bigger crowds at Rugby Park given the size of the stadium. The reality is that the level zero rules mean any outdoor event has an automatic upper capacity of 2000. If a club wants a larger crowd and can do so safely with 1m outside social distancing then it is up to that club to make an application to the local authority. I would like to think it therefore possible to have at least all season ticket holders in attendance at the Ayr game. Even better, if case rates continue to fall, we should see more restrictions lifted on August 9th, allowing much larger crowds.