The UK Government is late again in allowing Ukrainian refugees access to the country.
Home Secretary Priti Patel had to be dragged to the Commons this week to answer an urgent question on how the family scheme would be streamlined.
Only from next Tuesday will family visa applicants not have to go through humiliating biometrics checks to maintain the UK’s border security from women and children fleeing for their lives.
The details of a sponsorship scheme, allowing UK families to take in Ukrainian ones, will only be announced on Monday and the logistics will take days more to sort out.
In Poland, over one million people have been put up in the homes of ordinary people. Citizens in Germany and other nations are also opening their doors.
People across Scotland and the rest of the UK are desperate to help. Celtic legend and Record columnist Chris Sutton is among them.
But UK Ministers remain out of step and out of time with the compassion of the country as our European neighbours have simply dropped the visa requirement for Ukrainian refugees.
There is reason for British caution and it has nothing to do with security because the same non-threat is faced by other countries.
The truth is that it is in the DNA of over-promoted Ministers in this Brexit government to control and deny entry to the UK borders.
For them, and many supporters, that is what Brexit was all about and they are sticking to their instinctive hostility.
Meanwhile, the rest of the country is impatient with compassion.
In the name of common humanity, the UK must drop the visa requirement for Ukrainian women and children and give sanctuary to those in need.
Rise is a warning
The vaccine programme has resulted in huge progress being made in limiting the damage done by Covid-19.
Most restrictions have been lifted and other curbs are to be removed soon.
However, the latest stats show figures are heading in the wrong direction.
The number of hospital patients infected with coronavirus is at a 13-month high.
Earlier this week, Scotland recorded 14,387 in a single day – the highest number of infections since early January.
The increases have prompted Nicola Sturgeon to urge the public to continue to take “sensible precautions”, like wearing a mask.
The First Minister has not quite sounded the alarm but she is correct to flag a concern about the latest trends.
Older people remain most at risk from the bug. Covid-19 has caused misery among the population.
Restrictions being lifted has given all of us a major boost – but people must continue to act responsibly.
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