Enhanced restrictions on trading in Scotland "have failed to make any difference" to case numbers and are doing more harm than good, a leading business group has warned.
A snap poll by the Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce (AGCC) found almost two-thirds of businesses in the north-east do not believe that the curbs in place are proportionate to the threat posed by the Omicron variant of Covid. Respondents graded the Scottish Government's response at 3.7 out of 10.
More than 40 per cent said they will need to cut jobs if restrictions are strengthened or extended beyond the current timeframe of January 17. The survey also uncovered high levels of financial distress among companies, with 31% at moderate or high risk of collapse should curbs continue.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is due to give MSPs an update tomorrow as part of the offical review process of the latest restrictions imposed during the run-up to Christmas.
These included the return of limits on crowd capacity at indoor and outdoor venues, as well as limits on the hospitality industry and the return of social distancing requirements.
Ryan Crighton, policy director at AGCC, noted that the latest case rate per 100,000 of population, as published on Sunday evening, was 2,026 in Scotland compared to 1,924 in England, where fewer restrictions are in place and large events such as Premier League football have continued. Curbs "must end" on January 17 or earlier, he added.
“The latest data suggests that the Scottish Government’s gamble with our hospitality sector and high streets has failed, despite weeks of warnings," Mr Crighton said.
“We have been calling for ministers to recalibrate their response since before Christmas following the publication of various studies on the severity of Omicron. Our position has been that if you are going to close or restrict businesses, then you need to compensate in full for the losses incurred. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that the funds simply aren’t available to support companies.
READ MORE: Hospitality losses spiral by hundreds of millions of pounds, report finds
“Two things are now beyond question; one, that the restrictions currently in place are doing enormous damage to a number of business sectors; and two, that they have failed to make any meaningful difference to case numbers in Scotland.
“Therefore, the First Minister must announce the end of these damaging restrictions this week. Not doing so places the very survival of many businesses at risk and jobs on the line.
“Where businesses and government now appear to be aligned is on the fact that we need to find a way to live with this virus. The exceptional roll-out of the vaccine has put us in a strong position and that new reality needs to start now.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel