Scotland’s under-fire chief medic resigns
SCOTLAND’S chief medical officer last night finally bowed to pressure to resign after police issued her with a warning for twice travelling to her family’s second home during the coronavirus lockdown.
Dr Catherine Calderwood said she quit “with a heavy heart” after more talks with Nicola Sturgeon, during which they agreed “the justifiable focus on my behaviour risks becoming a distraction” from efforts to tackle the pandemic. Ms Sturgeon paid tribute to
Dr Calderwood but said that the furore risked “distracting from and undermining confidence in the Government’s public health message at this crucial time”. She added: “That is not a risk either of us is willing to take.”
Her resignation, announced just before 10pm, marked a sudden aboutturn after a painful joint press conference in which Ms Sturgeon refused to let Dr Calderwood answer questions put to her but robustly defended her position.
The First Minister admitted that Dr Calderwood was willing to resign for flouting her own public advice to stop all but essential travel, but said her “ex- pertise has been invaluable to me” and refused to sack her.
However, barely an hour later it was announced that Dr Calderwood would no longer attend Ms Sturgeon’s daily media briefings and TV adverts she fronted in which she urged people to stay at home were to be withdrawn.
The chief medical officer issued a grovelling apology yesterday morning after being photographed on Saturday
with her husband and three children near a coastal retreat in Earlsferry, Fife, more than an hour’s drive and 44 miles from her main Edinburgh home.
Dr Calderwood admitted she had been bombarded with angry messages from the public “calling me a hypocrite” and describing “the hardships they’ve endured while following my guidance”, but initially insisted she would continue in the key role.
But the pressure on her to stand down intensified after Iain Livingstone, the Chief Constable of Police Scotland, said his officers had spoken to her and “issued a warning about her future conduct”. They did not fine her.
Holyrood’s opposition parties said Dr Calderwood’s position was “untenable”, even before it emerged that she had made two trips on consecutive weekends and not just one.
In her resignation statement, she said the Scottish people must have “complete trust in those who give them advice” and pledged a smooth handover to her successor.
Paying tribute to her as a “transformational” chief medical officer, Ms Sturgeon said: “While she has made a very serious mistake in her actions, that should not detract from the fact that as CMO she has made a highly valuable contribution to the medical profession and to health in Scotland.” The Scottish Sun on Sunday reported that Dr Calderwood angered locals after she was seen walking her dogs with her family across a golf course in Earlsferry, where she has a bungalow.
Her two trips emerged after the Scottish Government issued a warning last month criticising those travelling to second homes in the Highlands.
In challenge to Ms Sturgeon’s decision to protect her, the Scottish Police Federation said policing the epidemic’s lockdown restrictions “just got that little bit harder this morning.”
Jackson Carlaw, the Scottish Tory leader, said: “There cannot be one rule for the bosses and another one for everyone else.”