No guarantee pubs will be allowed to reopen soon

THE SCOTTISH Government cannot guarantee that Central Belt pubs and restaurants will be able to re- open on October 25 when a circuit breaker lockdown is lifted.

Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing has also suggested that if further restrictions are needed later this year, officials could investigate “other options” that would not require all pubs and restaurants to be closed or handed restricted hours of trading.

Speaking on Sunday Politics Scotland, Mr Ewing acknowledged the hospitality restrictions imposed from Friday for 16 days were “having further serious effects for business”.

He added: “They wouldn’t be there unless these restrictions were adjudged by the Scottish Government, on the basis of the top medical advice, to be absolutely necessary.

“Were they not in place, the worry is we would have had to go to something even more stringent, even more tough.”

Mr Ewing pointed to an evidence paper drawn up by Scotland’s top chief clinicians which shows the “correlation in relation to gatherings of people either in hospitality settings”.

He added: “There are no absolute certainties when it comes to establishing how an individual got this virus. Absolute proof of causation doesn’t exist – correlation and evidence of correlation does exits.

Mr Ewing was asked if he could guarantee whether pubs and restaurants in the Central Belt, forced into temporary closure, will re- open when the restrictions are due to be lifted on October 25.

He said: “I certainly can’t guarantee that in this case.”