Scottish route out of lockdown ‘clearer than Westminster’s’

The Scottish Government has a much clearer strategy for coming out of lockdown than Westminster, according to a scientist.

Professor Stephen Reicher criticised Boris Johnson’s government over its approach to easing restrictions, claiming the “drift” plan consisted of “ad hoc openings” and “cheap headlines”.

He told a briefing yesterday that Scotland had taken an “elimination strategy”, focused on driving infection rates as low as possible before taking action.

The scientist was speaking in his capacity as a member of Independent Sage, a group set up by former government chief scientific adviser Sir David King, following criticism of the official Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) for a lack of transparency

Professor Reicher said:

“In Scotland we’ve seen such a clear strategy, clearly articulated, elimination is the aim and all objectives are geared towards driving things as low as possible.

“In England the UK Government hasn’t been clear about the strategy, we don’t see any particular strategy, some people talk about herd immunity by default, but nothing has been articulated at all.

“Instead we see a series of ad hoc openings, we see a series of ad hoc relaxations before we have an adequate test and trace system, so I think it’s better to characterise it as drift rather than a precise strategy.

“So one of the clearest differences between Scotland and England is the difference between an elimination strategy and just drift.”

Professor Reicher said Scotland has been “more careful” and is trying to drive infections so low that when the economy reopens, it does so “properly and fully”.