British diseases for British people

The coronavirus has claimed its first case in Scotland – although thankfully the individual concerned appears not to have serious symptoms – and new cases are appearing elsewhere in the UK and all across Europe. Yet today the British Government announced that it’s quitting the EU’s pandemic warning system. According to reports, the Department of Health in England wanted to remain a part of the EU’s Early Warning and Response System, but it was vetoed by Number 10. The EWRS is an online platform which allows health authorities across the EU to share information about serious cross-border health threats, but Number 10 has ruled that the UK won’t be a part of it because it’s fixated on a “clean break” from the EU. Given the behaviour of the British Government in Brexit negotiations so far, we can be certain that the health ministers in the devolved administrations were not even…