Leaders must set an example in Covid rules
Nicola Sturgeon has warned t h a t p o l i t i c a l l e a d e r s h ave a r e s p o n s i b i l i t y to “l e a d by example” in the fight against Covid after pictures emerged o f t h e l e a d e r o f G l a s g o w appearing to breach distancing rules.
Susan Aitken apologised for the app earance of a breach after she was captured in a pub within the recommended one metre distance from others, although she denied any rules had been broken.
M s A i t k e n w a s p h o t o - graphed at the Metropolitan Bar in Glasgow’s Merchant cit y district with fellow SNP councillors Christina Cannon and Jen Layden and Labour’s Aileen Mckenzie on Friday night, after fresh restrictions had been imposed on the city on visiting other households.
Ms Stu rgeon warned that the “rules apply to all of us” as she was questioned about the issue at yesterday’s Coronavirus briefing.
“We’r e a l l h u m a n , t h e s e are difficult rules I know to remember and to comply with on a daily basis, we’re all vul
nerable in that respect,” she said.
“B u t we mus t n’t , t h o s e o f us that are in public life, we mustn’t ever give the impression that the rules apply to other people and not to us. I would say to everybody in a position of leadership and in elected office in par ticular that you have a responsibility to lead by example and just to make sure that we are doing what we asking other people to do which is to be very, very conscious of this on a daily basis.”
M s A i t k e n s a i d t h a t t h e group had formed an extende d h o u s e h o l d , b u t a p o l o - gised over concerns about the alleged breach.