STURGEON: I’M KICKING MYSELF
Humiliating apology after her face mask blunder in pub
NI COLA Sturgeon yesterday admitted she was ‘kicking’ herself ‘very hard’ after being forced into a humiliating apology for breaking her own coronavirus rules.
The First Minister was photographed standing in a pub chatting to pensioners without a face mask after she had attended a wake.
In a statement to MSPs, she admitted she was in the wrong and stressed that the rules ‘apply to me as much as anyone else’.
When she made her daily reference to the Scottish Government’s main public health message, which includes wearing face coverings, she said she did so ‘with an enormous dose of humility’, saying: ‘Let me remind you, and most importantly myself, of FACTS.’ Police Scotland yesterday said they would not be taking any action against her.
In her weekly statement to MSPs before First Minister’s Questions (FMQs) yesterday, Miss Sturgeon opted to highlight the issue herself. She said: ‘Before I go any further today, I want to take this opportunity to say how sorry I am for my breach of rules that I ask us all to follow every single day.
‘I took my face mask off while briefly attending a funeral purvey last week. I am sure everyone will have seen in the media this morning a picture of me without it.
‘I want to be clear today that, regardless of the circumstances, I was in the wrong. There are no excuses. These rules do apply to me just as they do to everyone else, and the rules really matter.
‘I am kicking myself very hard, possibly harder than my worst critic ever could. But more importantly, I will be making sure that I do not drop my guard again.’
After Miss Sturgeon’s public apology, Police Scotland said: ‘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.’
The Scottish Government introduced regulations in September which mean it is now mandatory for customers and staff to wear face coverings when entering, exiting or moving around hospitality premises. Anyone failing to follow the rules can face an on-the-spot £60 fine, falling to £30 if paid within 28 days but rising to a maximum of £960 for repeat offenders.
The photograph of Miss Sturgeon chatting to three elderly women without a face covering was taken at the Stable Bar and Restaurant in Edinburgh following the funeral of a senior Scottish Government civil servant at nearby Mortonhall Crematorium.
Miss Sturgeon was pictured without a mask while looking towards the table of pensioners. She had been wearing a tartan mask and is said to have removed it briefly as she was leaving the venue.
The First Minister’s apology to Holyrood came after earlier in the day, Scotland’s national clinical director, Jason Leitch, warned that a full lockdown may not be enough to stop the spread of the new strain of coronavirus.
Mainland Scotland will enter the toughest level of lockdown from Boxing Day, forcing all restaurants, bars, cafes, non- essential shops and hairdressers to close.
But Professor Leitch yesterday warned MSPs that England’s fourweek full national lockdown up to December 2 had not been enough to prevent the rapid spread of the new strain of the virus in London and the South-East.
Professor Leitch also said it would be ‘very, very difficult’ to keep the R number below one given how transmissible the variant is. He cited evidence from the UK-wide New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Group, which found the new strain has a growth rate about 71 per cent higher than the existing virus.
Referring to the group’s conclusions, he said: ‘It was noted that the code numbered variant has demonstrated exponential growth during a period when national lockdown measures were in place.
‘ So that suggests that the November lockdown in the SouthEast of England wasn’t sufficient to drive down the R number for this variant.’
Meanwhile, the Scottish Conservatives issued a statement saying the First Minister ‘should know better’ regarding her face mask error and insisted that ‘there cannot be one rule for Nicola Sturgeon and another for everyone else’.
However, Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives at Holyrood opted not to raise the issue at FMQs.
Instead, Miss Davidson highlighted the SNP’s failure to offer adequate support to firms hit hard by coronavirus restrictions.
She said a series of firms have not received funding and are ‘teetering on the edge’, adding that the Scottish Government had been ‘far too slow at getting support out the door to protect jobs’.
Miss Sturgeon said it is ‘right and fair’ the Government is challenged on the speed of its support, adding some of the schemes are administered through councils.
STURGEON’S APOLOGY FOR BREAKING COVID RULES Daily Mail, December 23