Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 16 September 2020
Airports have ground to a halt in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The industry is collapsing, and some think that there might be no return if no help is offered. That is the reality today.
The reality is that the unions and some political parties are very concerned about the short, medium and long-term prospects for our aviation industry. Job losses are expected to be on the scale of the collapse of the mining industry in the 1980s, and I do not think that that is an exaggeration. The impact on the wider economy is acute. Airline capacity is already shrinking; some airlines have already permanently scrapped their planes. We must understand that to understand the potential devastation and the prospect of any real recovery.
The Scottish Government does not so far seem to recognise the scale of the impending disaster. Michael Matheson and other ministers are too quiet while it unfolds. I heard the cabinet secretary promise three months ago that there was a long-term recovery plan. We must hear more about that. We need the cabinet secretary’s assurance that some of the powers that are within his gift are being used and that he recognises the scale of the problem.
Unite the union has warned for months about the depths of the crisis and the horrendous attack on terms and conditions that Colin Smyth talked about. If that is allowed to happen without conditionality attached to any Government funding, it will spread across the country and to other sectors, unless we get a grip. As the Labour motion makes clear, we demand a specific package of support for the aviation industry, which should include protections for jobs and for working conditions.
However, it must be understood that this is about the wider economy and not just airports. As other speakers have said, the policy of self-regulated quarantine on return from an at-risk country is not working. Although my evidence is anecdotal, I have been counting the number of times that I have heard about people not adhering to quarantine: the number of cases that I have counted is in double figures. If it was adhered to, and if people were observing 14 days’ quarantine, it might be accurate for the Government to say that that is the most effective way to stop the spread of the virus, but most ordinary people do not think that it is the most effective way.
I hope that we are at one on the issue. We are not arguing for a policy change that could create a public health risk. We support the Government in seeking a policy that protects public health. However, the policy is killing the industry, and there is another way to achieve those same aims.
In Germany, the financial sector has returned to some normality and workers have returned to their offices. The reason for that is simple: mass testing. On landing at Frankfurt airport Channel 4’s Paul McNamara reported last night that there is no 14-day quarantine in Germany. It is not perfect, but he said that it is the best way without locking everything down.
I ask Government ministers: is it the lack of capacity that ties them to their current policy, or is it that they do not think that testing could solve the problem? Airports have called for a pilot of testing. I am pleased that the First Minister seems to have left the door to that idea open.