4 May 2021 • 12:02am
Pro-Union counter demonstrators gather in Glasgow in opposition to a Scottish independence supporters rally
Credit: Jeff J Mitchell/ Getty Images Europe
SIR – According to government figures, in the current financial year Scotland will be spending £129 per person for every £100 spent in England. The Barnett formula will result in about £38 billion going from English taxpayers to the Scottish government.
It is difficult to see how promises of billions of pounds of investment to provide a faster rail link from Glasgow to London (report, May 2) will sway Scottish voters. Such money might be better spent providing free social care at home and undergraduate tuition in England – benefits Scots already enjoy.
1 May 2021 • 12:01am
Boris Johnson with thumbs up after receiving a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine
Credit: Frank Augstein /PA
SIR – The following is an imaginary BBC news item: “Sources say Boris Johnson and the Conservative Government have achieved amazing success with the roll-out of the vaccine, which they ordered early after investing in its development. They have saved many lives.”
Carol Glenister
SIR – Fed up with all the negatives we are being subjected to via the media, I felt that it was time to dwell on some positives. Having shielded for months, I now look forward to taking tentative steps towards the new normal.
516206432 Entries have been pouring in thick and fast for the Swindon and Wiltshire Health & Social Care Awards, and there’s still plenty of time to make your nominations. From intensive care doctors tackling Covid-19 head-on to volunteers making sure no-one, especially the most isolated, falls through the net during lockdown, we want to hear the untold stories of ordinary people responding to this unprecedented crisis in extraordinary ways. Those judged the best will walk away with one of our awards, which we re running in partnership with Wasdell Group. Samantha Backway nominated Neptune Ward at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon for the Health Care Team Award. She said: “The ward was reconfigured into a larger ward with two high care areas looking after patients who require CPAP. These patients needed high levels of expertise. The nurses had to wear level 3 PPE even in the hot weather. I was redeployed there and I’ve never seen such commitment, compassion and
HEALTH AWARDS: Read about some of our first nominees gazetteandherald.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gazetteandherald.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.