THE Scottish Tories have demanded to see the evidence behind Nicola Sturgeon’s decision to maintain the coronavirus lockdown longer in Scotland than in England.
The move, which comes as Boris Johnson begins easing restrictions south of the border, reflects increasing political tensions over the Covid-19 emergency.
Tory leader Jackson Carlaw said the First Minister had to explain why the falling rate of infection, or R number, had apparently “stalled” in Scotland.
He asked whether it was related to the “appalling rate of infection and loss of life in Scotland’s care homes”, the site of most recent fatalities.
He also asked how long it would be “before Scotland will be able to undertake the additional cautious steps being progressed elsewhere”.
Mr Johnson will later address MPs in the Commons and publish a 50-page document fleshing out a potential “roadmap” out of the lockdown - but only for England.
It replaces the “stay at home” message with “stay alert” and encourages those unable to work from home to return to their workplaces, especially in construction and manufacturing, and hints at a limited return to school next month.
Ms Sturgeon condemned the “stay alert” message as vague and imprecise, while deputy First Minister John Swinney said the PM had “muddied the waters” on public messaging.
The leaders of the devolved administrations of Wales and Northern Ireland have also taken a more cautious approach than the Prime Minister.
Ms Sturgeon has said the stay at home advice remains in place in Scotland as the R number is higher than in England, and it would be premature to ease off the current restrictions.
The only change in Scotland is an end to the one hour a day limit on outdoor exercise.
In a letter to Ms Sturgeon, Mr Carlaw demanded the First Minister produce daily evidence to justify her “slower approach” and convince the public it was the right one.
He wrote: “It is important that the rationale underpinning this conclusion is both understood and is transparent.
“Why does the Scottish Government believe the R number remains higher in Scotland than elsewhere in the UK?
“Given that Scotland went into lockdown at an earlier phase in the development of the virus than London, should we not have anticipated that the lockdown measures would have proved relatively more effective?
“Has the lack of PPE and the early dismissal of the need for extensive testing contributed to the continued high level of infection incidence in care homes?
READ MORE: How European media reacted to Boris Johnson's address to ease the coronavirus lockdown
He said: “Like everyone else, we want to see a strategy that saves lives, protects the NHS and moves towards coming out of lockdown when it’s safe to do so.
“There are emerging differences between the approach of the UK Government and the Scottish Government, and that will have an impact on the lives of Scots, and the wellbeing of the economy.
“So the SNP government now needs to set out exactly why this approach is different, and what evidence it is based upon.
“We can’t simply have weeks go by where Nicola Sturgeon asserts a position without the detailed reasons for it being revealed.”
The Scottish Government has been asked for comment.
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