Nicola Sturgeon has addressed speculation regarding apparent national lockdown restrictions which could be enforced in England in just a few days.
Reports suggest Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to announce the measures for England – which could see everywhere except essential shops and education settings closed for a month – at a press conference on Monday.
According to The Times, the PM is considering imposing the new measures from Wednesday, and they will last until December 1.
It is understood that Downing Street has now launched an investigation to find the source of the story, amid reports that the Government had wanted to keep the plan quiet until Monday.
Now, Scotland's First Minister has addressed the unfolding situation, and says the Scottish Government will consider data on the spread of coronavirus 'in the coming days'.
She said developments in England will be taken into consideration.
"Prevalence of the virus is currently lower in Scotland than in other parts of the UK and there are early signs that the tough restrictions in place since we moved quickly in late September have started to slow the rate of increase," Ms Sturgeon wrote in a Twitter thread on Saturday.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon warns 'not to twist rules' ahead of tier system
"We will base decisions on circumstances here - though what happens just across our border is clearly not irrelevant to our considerations. In coming days @scotgov will consider data on the spread of the virus, as we always do, and take account of any developments in England.
Re speculation about lockdown in England -
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) October 31, 2020
1/ Prevalence of the virus is currently lower in Scotland than in other parts of the UK and there are early signs that the tough restrictions in place since we moved quickly in late September have started to slow the rate of increase...
"Amongst other factors, this consideration will have to include whether any financial support will be available now as a result of steps in England, which would not be guaranteed to Scotland later."
The news comes ahead of a new tier system set to be introduced in Scotland from Monday, which will see localised restrictions throughout the country depending on an area's 'level'.
Each area has been given a number, from 0-4, which will determine the level of restrictions.
READ MORE: What tier am I? New local restrictions confirmed for your area
Ms Sturgeon stressed that people in Scotland should not be travelling to or from England at all, except for essential purposes.
She continued: "Most importantly, we urge everyone to comply with current restrictions, including on travel.
"People should not travel to or from level 3 areas in Scotland and for now, we are asking people not to travel to or from England at all, except for essential purposes.
"Above all, we will do our best - in difficult circumstances - to arrive at the best and most rational decisions we can, with the priority of protecting health and lives.
"And we will set out any decisions to the Scottish people and @ScotParl in as managed a way as possible."
Why are you making commenting on HeraldScotland 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