'PATHETIC'
AN SNP MP was blasted for “gloating” that England’s coronavirus death rate is higher than in Scotland.
Douglas Chapman suggested lower average A&E waiting times in Scotland could be a reason for the gap - which experts reckon is actually due to factors like population density.
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The Dunfermline and West Fife MP posted on Twitter: “Recorded deaths from #covid in England are double the rate of what they are in Scotland. It’s reasonable to ask WHY? Is it NHS Scotland’s vastly superior A&E performance OR is it Scotland’s 50 unique coronavirus assessment centres keeping infected patients away from GP surgeries?”
The Nats MP faced a barrage of criticism over the tweet - including from SNP backers - with one person accusing him of “gleefully politicising English deaths”
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SNP member Tony Giugliano replied: “The factors relating to spread and deaths are varied and complex.
"The death rate in Scotland is three times higher than the Lazio Region (6million) which includes Rome. No generalisation will explain that. Leave the comparisons to the scientists.”
Another Twitter user mocked Mr Chapman, telling him sarcastically: “Mixture of all that Doug. But mostly the obvious superiority of the pure Scots genes of the master race.
"You’re right we can probably discount the fact that 10 million live and travel cheek by jowl in London alone whereas a large proportion of Scotland’s population are rural.”
Scottish Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs said: “Mr Chapman should delete his pathetic, gloating tweet and apologise to all the families who have lost loved ones and our NHS professionals working flat out during the coronavirus outbreak.”
It’s not fully known why England has a higher death rate than Scotland but experts have said the virus is being fuelled by the high population density in London - and it being a major international travel hub. England has a population density six times higher than Scotland.
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Earlier this week, Linda Bauld, a professor of public health at Edinburgh University, told the Herald newspaper that population density was “a big issue” as well as the time that lockdown measures kicked in relative to the point in the epidemic that nations were at.
Prof Bauld said: “Lockdown measures came into effect in Scotland and Ireland at an earlier point, at a time when infection rates weren't as bad as they were in England. So we will have benefited from that more here than, for example, London.
"Secondly, population density - there are fewer people in concentrated areas in Scotland or Ireland than England.
"Another thing that might be the case - and I'm only going by what we've seen in the intensive care audits - is this ethnicity issue and whether that's playing a role.
"London, and the Midlands, have very ethnically diverse populations. That's not the case in Ireland to anywhere near the same extent - or in Scotland."
Mr Chapman, 65, has been an MP since 2015 and has a majority of 10,669 in the former Labour seat.
The SNP and Mr Chapman have been contacted for comment
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