Brexit (Debate)

Tue 2 Feb 2021, 11:06

Yeah, all rather a shame that Tony Morgan brought the issue of vaccines into the Brexit debate on Saturday morning. But hey, we are where we are, so: 

Great to hear from Steve that Astra Zeneca and the Jenner Institute wish to distribute their vaccines across the globe so as many people and nations have access to them whether rich or poor, not just on moral grounds but also to minimise the possibility of variants popping up around the globe, which then make any vaccination programme less successful. However I am surprised that there is no Astra Zeneca vaccination programme or manufacturing unit up and running in South Africa to date, after all a great number of volunteers from that country took part in their drug trials. We already have three manufacturing units up and running in the U.K., but none in South Africa.

Returning to Tony’s point on the Irish/ Northern Irish border, it would appear that someone within the EU commission dropped a real clanger in invoking article 16 over vaccines on the Irish border. Word on the street is that Angela Merkel and the Irish PM went absolutely ape shit when they heard and stopped it in its tracks, realising the implications for the peace agreement.  Not the EU at its finest hour at all, but they are not alone in making mistakes in this horrible pandemic are they? Unfortunately the Irish border is going to come up as an issue time and time again, something which the Good Friday Agreement attempted to resolve, but Brexit has blown apart. Rather like the Union with Scotland which was looking resolved for a generation, until Brexshit blew that apart as well. 

As for mistakes in this pandemic, the current U.K. Govenment  has made many, not sourcing a good supply of PPE for our NHS staff as the first wave approached, as a result over 400 NHS staff were killed by this virus for just turning up at work and doing there job. We could all see it coming down the Silk route from China to Iraq and onwards to Italy nearly a year ago. We should have shut our borders to flights and put in operation professional quarantine restrictions like New Zealand which has only had 25 deaths as a result. Meanwhile we have the worst death rate in Europe of over 100,000 souls.  Our government introduced a privatised track and trace system which has never really worked effectively. They should have let the NHS and local councils run it, just look at how effective the NHS run vaccination programme has been in comparison. In the second wave teachers were left virtually unprotected and many including my daughter caught it as a result. Only now are they talking of more effective testing of teachers and pupils in schools.

So yes Tony,  the EU made a mistake over the Irish border. But they are not the only ones to make mistakes in this horrible pandemic. And I bet Brexshit will bring many other problems and issues to the Irish border and elsewhere.