LOCKDOWN: IS END IN SIGHT?

++ Now Sturgeon gives churches, pubs and hairdressers green light ++ Families can stay overnight ++ Cinemas set to reopen

NICOLA Sturgeon yesterday signalled the biggest easing yet of restrictions after almost four months of lockdown.

As part of a mass reopening of the economy, the First Minister confirmed that pubs, hairdressers and

the tourist industry will soon be able to welcome back customers.

she also told the scottish parliament that families will be able to meet in bigger groups indoors and said churches, cinemas, museums and galleries will all open again to the public. Over the next week, thousands will also return to work as scotland moves into phase three of relaxing measures.

shopping malls will open for the first time since the restrictions were imposed on March 23 to combat the spread of Covid-19.

Miss sturgeon said now was a time for ‘cautious hope and optimism’ as she urged people to enjoy their new freedoms. she added: ‘We should all savour our first indoor meetings and meals with friends, our first pint in a pub or catch-up over coffee.

‘I know that many of us are looking forward to our first non-amateur haircut in many months.

‘There will be other milestones and reunions that we will enjoy during the next few weeks.

‘They have all been hard earned by

each and every one of us.’ Miss Sturgeon also announced she was able to ‘bring forward’ other measures due to Scotland’s progress in tackling Covid-19. In other developments: There were no new coronavirus deaths in Scotland, with just six new positive cases across the country;

Scotland’s housing market was handed a boost as Finance Secretary Kate Forbes announced cuts to property tax;

Miss Sturgeon faced pressure to lift her travel ban on Spanish islands;

The SNP announced free tuition for EU students will end;

Holidaymakers were warned to wear masks in hotels and on busy beaches;

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office cautioned against taking cruises.

The Scottish parliament was recalled from recess for Miss Sturgeon to make a statement to MSPs. She revealed that, as of last week, experts believe just 1,000 people in Scotland have the virus – down from 2,900 three weeks ago. This meant that she could finally confirm the ‘most substantial easing of lockdown so far’.

Among the measures, from today, families and friends will be able to gather in larger groups inside and outside their homes – with overnight stays allowed. Couples not living together will be able to meet without social distancing.

On Monday, shopping centres will fully reopen with social distancing in place and customers wearing face coverings.

Dentists will be able to start receiving NHS patients for ‘non-aerosol’ treatments, such as check-ups.

Children will be allowed to start playing contact sport and expectant mothers can attend scans with their partners. The biggest changes will come into force on Wednesday as Scotland’s tourist sector will finally be allowed to reopen, including hotels, B&Bs and campsites.

Pubs and restaurants will be able to reopen indoor seating areas, with the two-metre social distancing rule to be relaxed to one metre if other measures, such as screens, are in place.

Hairdressers and barbers will welcome customers back as cinemas, museums and galleries open their doors. Miss Sturgeon also gave new indicative dates for the opening of beauty salons, nail bars and tailors, which are set to return from July 22 along with universities and colleges with ‘blended learning’ in place.

She urged ‘cautious hope’ though, saying it was a ‘time of real danger’.

Welcoming her announcement, Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw said: ‘What Scotland is now looking for is prompt, radical and ambitious action from this Government to support our tourism industry, keep young people in jobs and rebuild our country.’

Scottish Chambers of Commerce chief executive Liz Cameron said: ‘Our business communities are eager and ready to get back to work in order to breathe life back into our economy and protect the livelihoods it supports.’

FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s confirmation yesterday of the further easing of lockdown restrictions will have come as a huge relief to Scots. After 109 days, the prospect of life returning to something resembling normality certainly lifts the spirits.

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the SNP Government has played a game of political point-scoring, dragging its heels on the lifting of restrictions and spinning wildly the tall tale that the crisis enforces the case for independence.

In fact, the broad shoulders of the United Kingdom have made life bearable for countless families, kept financially secure thanks to Treasury intervention. And when the Scottish Government does act of its own accord, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that it does so out of political necessity rather than the interests of the country.

A rise in the threshold at which Scots will have to pay the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax – the SNP’s replacement for stamp duty – announced by Finance Secretary Kate Forbes yesterday came 24 hours after Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced more generous measures south of the Border.

But while SNP ministers play their tawdry games, the rest of us can look forward to meeting up with increasing numbers of family members and friends and the return to pubs and restaurants. Let’s enjoy this lifting of restrictions – but remember that, until this deadly virus is suppressed, we must continue to exercise caution.