Police won’t take action against FM
POLICE will not be taking any action after Nicola Sturgeon broke Covid rules by taking off her face mask at a wake.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said the First Minister had apologised for an “inadvertent breach”.
A photograph showed Sturgeon chatting to three women in an Edinburgh bar last week without wearing a mask. She had been at a funeral wake for a Scottish Government civil servant.
Under the Government’s Covid rules, customers in hospitality venues must wear a face covering except when seated and must wear one when moving around.
Those who breach the face covering rules can face a £60 fine.
Addressing MSPs yesterday, Sturgeon said: “I want to take this opportunity to say how sorry I am for this breach of rules that I ask all of us to follow every single day.
“I took my face mask off while briefly attending a funeral purvey last week. I was in the wrong. There are no excuses.
“These rules do apply to me, just as they do to everyone else. The rules really matter.”
She added: “I am kicking myself very hard, possibly harder than my worst critic ever could, but more importantly I’ll be making sure I don’t drop my guard again.”
It was reported Sturgeon was at the Stable Bar and Restaurant in Edinburgh on Friday after attending a funeral at the nearby Mortonhall Crematorium.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We’re aware of a photograph of the First Minister in which she was not wearing a face mask at a wake. The First Minister has acknowledged this inadvertent breach, for which she has apologised. We remind everyone of the requirement to wear face coverings in indoor public places for public health reasons.
“Police Scotland will not be taking any further action in relation to this matter.”
A spokesperson for the First Minister later said police had not been in contact with her.
A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: “The First Minister should know better. By forgetting the rules and failing to set a proper example, she’s undermining essential public health messaging.
“It’s a blunder that an ordinary member of the public wouldn’t get away with. There cannot be one rule for Nicola Sturgeon and another for everyone else.”
Scotland’s national clinical director, Professor Jason Leitch, said: “I think the First Minister knows this matters, I think she’s as furious with herself as some might be with her.
“We had a brief conversation last night and she’s absolutely mad at this little lapse in concentration. “It’s so easily done.” He said Sturgeon was “just about out the door and was called back”.
He added: “Her mask was off because she was leaving, and then she went back in and had a little lapse – didn’t put it back on.”
Sturgeon concluded her Holyrood statement yesterday with a reminder of the Government’s FACTS guidance on coronavirus.
She said: “With an enormous dose of humility, let me remind you, and most importantly myself, of FACTS – use face coverings, avoid crowded places, clean your hands and surfaces regularly, keep two metres distance from other households and self-isolate and get tested if you have symptoms.”
The First Minister confirmed there had been 47 new coronavirus deaths and 1190 new cases in the previous 24 hours.
She also warned against complacency, given the risks posed by the new, more infectious strain of coronavirus.
And she praised the latest vaccination figures released yesterday, which indicate 56,676 people received the first dose between the start of the rollout on December 8 and Sunday, December 20.
Sturgeon said: “Progress on vaccination gives us grounds for hope but the overall state of the pandemic is a cause of concern. “Our immediate priority has to be to get through the next few weeks and months as safely as possible.”