The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
FM admits U-turn on medic’s position
Sturgeon says public backlash forced a change of heart on Calderwood
Nicola Sturgeon yesterday admitted she U-turned on sacking the chief medical officer after a public backlash over her trips to her second home in Fife.
The first minister had initially backed Dr Catherine Calderwood to keep her job after she admitted the breaches of the coronavirus lockdown rules.
But it was announced later on Sunday night that she had resigned after a further “long conversation” with Ms Sturgeon.
Ms Sturgeon yesterday told her daily coronavirus briefing that the “balance of judgment changed” as the day went on and she received numerous messages from furious members of the public.
She said she realised the loss of Dr Calderwood’s advice was outweighed by the risk people would stop listening to her government’s pleas to stay at home.
Dr Calderwood was given a police warning on Sunday after admitting she had twice visited a second home in Earlsferry in Fife – more than an hour’s drive from her main family home in Edinburgh.
Dr Gregor Smith has stepped into her shoes as interim chief medical officer for the “foreseeable future”.
Ms Sturgeon said: “Yesterday I was trying to work out what was the best thing to do in difficult circumstances for the government’s handling of the virus.
“These judgments are my responsibility to make as first minister and I stand by them but very rarely are these kinds of situations black and white.
“All of us in these positions have to balance a number of things and I have tried to do that in good faith, to the best of my ability, but absolutely focused on what I need to do to equip us to get through this situation as well as we possibly can.”
She added: “I am acutely aware of the importance of the advice that we are giving. I hoped that I could continue to have the advice of the chief medical officer.
“She made a serious mistake in breaching that guidance, but she has also been giving valuable guidance to the government over the course of this epidemic.
“But it became clear to me last night that that was not possible without damaging the trust and confidence in the government’s message; and that is the most important thing.
“The chief medical officer was wrong to visit her house and my statement, and my continued statement to people of Scotland, is this advice is being given for a reason.
Ms Sturgeon also hailed the bravery of those on the coronavirus frontline as she revealed that a Scottish care worker has died after contracting the disease.
She paid tribute to the “great courage” of Scotland’s health and social care workers amid the Covid-19 pandemic as she confirmed that the individual from West Dunbartonshire had died.
It comes as the number of positive cases in Scotland rose to 3,961 – an increase of 255 on Sunday.
A total of 199 people are now in intensive care, with deaths in the country rising by two to 222.
However Ms Sturgeon said the figure is “artificially low” and is not a true reflection of the number of fatalities from across the weekend.