IT is now obvious that the Union is bad for Scotland’s health with Boris Johnson’s political decision to end free testing and the requirement to self-isolate if Covid-positive, which, coupled with non-mask wearing, is life-threatening to our health staff and carers as well as to the elderly and vulnerable members of society ("Sturgeon under pressure as Johnson axes all Covid rules", The Herald, February 22). Also, it will now be very difficult to detect any new variant at a vital early stage.

It was the UK Government’s dithering at the start of the pandemic that allowed Covid to run riot and trash the economy when, as an island, the UK should have had one of the lowest number of deaths and cases rather than one of the highest in Europe per head of population.

Although Scotland has performed a good bit better, the lack of border controls and normal borrowing powers has hindered the Scottish government’s efforts to control the pandemic.

The UK Government’s refusal to continue to fund the devolved nations that take more responsible health decisions further illustrates that the Union continues to be a one-sided concept.

Mary Thomas, Edinburgh.

WHY ENGLAND AND NOT THE REST?

VICTOR Clements (Letters, February 23) misses a major point of principle regarding future funding of Covid testing. Why should England benefit from UK Government support when the "English government" requires it, but when the Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish governments require UK Government support it is denied?

Furthermore, if the UK Government genuinely believes the pandemic is effectively over, then the demand for free lateral flow tests (most necessary for the poorest and most vulnerable in our society) should be greatly diminished and the cost to the UK Government of extending this facility would therefore in future be only a tiny fraction of the figure that has been quoted for January. Could it be that the UK Government stance on testing reflects the possibility that the English public is being misled in order to sustain the premiership of a duplicitous charlatan who has repeatedly demonstrated that he is prepared to gamble with public health?

As for the comments of Jane Lax (Letters, February 23), it is sad to think that with the amount of information available to us today, there are still some who struggle to understand how small independent countries around the world, most with significantly less resources than Scotland, manage to prosper economically. Perhaps denigration of the majority of their fellow Scottish citizens will, unfortunately for some, remain a lasting "Union Dividend" once Scotland can determine its own path forward among formerly "dependent states".

Stan Grodynski, Longniddry.

END RESTRICTIONS ON PATIENTS

THE sooner we end the barbaric restrictions placed on our hospital patients the better. I had the misfortune of attending A&E recently and witnessed the following first hand. A father was brought in to the reception area by his two sons; he was in the midst of a stroke. The sons were amazing and they did him proud. One of the first things they were told at reception was they had to leave: no visitors allowed, patients only. The receptionist was just doing her job, but it was cold and callous.This is all so wrong and countless thousands of families will have been through this distressing experience during this pandemic. Way too many patients have been left to suffer alone.

I have scoured the First Minister's Covid update ("Scotland to scrap all Covid restrictions from March 21", The Herald, February 23) looking for guidance on when some sense of normality will return to our hospitals. The update is all legal speak and policy; I can find nothing tangible on when patients will have their dignity returned. The status quo is a never-ending cycle of misery and despair while these restrictions remain in place.

Paul Morrison, Glasgow.

TESTS ARE NOT BEING WASTED

WILLIAM Loneskie (Letters, February 23) seems content to look for the worst of people, rather than acknowledge the good.

I go through a high number of lateral flow tests as I have to show a negative test (and batch number on the sleeve) every time I visit my mother in her nursing home. Most visits are planned; some, unfortunately, are not.

None is used in a cavalier manner, whatever that means.

Allan McDougall, Neilston.

MORE INVESTMENT IN AMBULANCE SERVICES

TWO articles within the last week, on February 17 ("Stop ambulance service cuts or risk more deaths, Yousaf warned") and February 22 ("Health Secretary accused of failing to act over ‘dangerous’ ambulance cuts), have both made incorrect claims relating to "ambulance cuts" in Scotland. What is more disappointing is that the Scottish Ambulance Service was not approached for comment ahead of either article being published or to check whether the claims being made were true.

To be clear, there are no cuts in staffing in the West region or in Prestonpans as has been claimed. As part of an additional 566 staff being recruited and trained across Scotland, these areas are receiving additional investment and are set to have increased ambulance A&E services through our ongoing Demand and Capacity programme, not less. Any proposed changes around shift rosters are to ensure that we increase ambulance availability at identified times where demand is highest, to reduce delays to patients and to minimise staff fatigue.

Pauline Howie, Chief Executive, Scottish Ambulance Service, Edinburgh.

UKRAINE: IT'S ALL ABOUT RESOURCES

LAST night (February 23) while watching my Chinese-made TV a thought occurred to me. The programme I was watching was the UEFA Champions League match between Chelsea and Lille. It struck me bizarre that on the very day that Boris Johnson launched his first financial barrage at the evil Vladimir Putin ("UK targets billionaires and banks with sanctions", The Herald, February 23) that a major sponsor of the match I was watching was Gazprom, a Russian state-owned company and that one of the teams was owned outright by a Russian billionaire and coincidentally didn’t have a single Englishman in the original line-up.

If our esteemed Prime Minister wanted publicly to execute a vicious sliding tackle on the despot Putin why was that match not cancelled? Could it be that the public response would have been prompt and vociferously negative had he done so? Is Roman Abramovich going to be stripped of ownership of Chelsea FC and his highly-paid foreign mercenaries masquerading as an English football team? Who determines if individual Russians are goodies or baddies? A cynic might suggest it depends on the size of their wallets and how much they are willing to donate to UK political parties and individual MPs. Why doesn’t Mr Johnson confiscate all the UK assets owned by Russians just like President Biden did with billions of Afghanistan currency reserves?

As regards unwelcome incursions into foreign countries, historically the UK is an expert in this practice and is obviously quite happy currently to overlook others doing so in the likes of Palestine and the Yemen as long as the aggressors buy their armaments from us and don’t interfere with any assets that our Establishment may own there.

When it comes to current squabbling about territorial borders set in the past by conflict rather than geography it’s always about resources and money. What is happening in the Ukraine has nothing to do with sovereignty or self-determination, it’s all to do with who will eventually exploit its resources. The kicker is that based on our tragic experiences in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and Syria, the UK general public will have no meaningful input into whatever ultimately happens in the Ukraine.

David J Crawford, Glasgow.

* ONCE again there is a feeling that sport is separate from politics as rugby and football are silent on the question of sanctions. Why not be quite clear – any sport that allows the anticipation of Russian teams will face immediate sanctions including withdrawal of all tax perks and government support and recognition? If you want Russian money then limit yourself and your team or sport to competing only in Russia.

James Watson, Dunbar.

* ALEX Salmond is obviously a sitting duck over his role on RT; well he was never going to get a gig on the BBC a la Ed Balls or Michael Portillo. To cut through the hypocrisy here, all politicians who have appeared on RT should have their names published, how many times they were on and what moneys they got paid. That’ll shut some of them up.

GR Weir, Ochiltree.

Read more: Why doesn't the SNP use tax powers to fund Covid testing?