Working people in Scotland suffered the “lethal consequences” of Holyrood’s pandemic response being restricted by the devolution settlement and UK-wide austerity, the Covid-19 inquiry has heard.
The general secretary of the Scottish Trade Unions Congress (STUC) said the Scottish government, led by the Scottish National Party, was unable to take action on unemployment and workers’ health and safety issues due to budget cuts and limits on its devolved powers.
“Years of brutal austerity have fundamentally altered our public services, with lethal consequences,” Roz Foyer of the STUC told today’s Module 2A hearing, which looks at Scotland’s decision-making and political governance during the pandemic.
