SLOW ROAD TO FREEDOM
Sturgeon urges caution as she prepares to unveil route out of lockdown — as PM says all curbs could be lifted by Midsummer’s Day (if ALL key tests are met)
SCOTLAND’S exit from lockdown will be ‘sure and steady’ and ‘a bit slow’ in the weeks ahead, Nicola Sturgeon has warned.
The First Minister will today set out a cautious route map for lifting key restrictions and finally ending the legal obligation on people to stay at home.
She said there will be ‘broad similarity’ between her plan and the four-step approach unveiled by Boris Johnson yesterday, but also told families and businesses they will need to be patient.
The Prime Minister set out a ‘one-way road to freedom’ that could see an end to all limits on social contact and the return of major events as early as June 21.
But his plans show that the ‘stay at home’ order will remain in place until at least the end of March, while non-essential retail and hairdressers will not be able to reopen until April 12 at the earliest. Indoor gatherings, as well as hotels and theatre, cannot resume until May 17 or later.
In a sign that there will still be key differences in approach between different parts of
the UK, Mr Johnson said there is no credible route to ‘zero Covid Britain’.
The Scottish Government has warned the priority will ‘continue to be suppression of the virus to the lowest possible level’.
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘Now this will be a cautious way forward because it’s really important that, as we come out of this lockdown, we do so sustainably. We have got every reason to be very optimistic right now.
‘The lockdown is working and all of the indications are that vaccination is having an impact as well. But we don’t want to set back our progress, we don’t want to – while there can be no guarantees – we don’t want to face another lockdown.
‘So sure and steady – even if it is a bit slow over the next few weeks – is definitely how we want to proceed.’
Miss Sturgeon said her route map will include ‘an indicative order of priority’ for the ‘gradual lifting’ of current restrictions.
The initial approach to lifting lockdown restrictions will be uniform across Scotland, before the geographic levels system eventually returns, with different rules in place depending on prevalence rates. In contrast, Mr Johnson’s route map sets out steps to be made by all parts of England at the same time.
The First Minister said the ‘stay at home’ order, which was imposed when Scotland formally entered a national lockdown in early January, will remain in place for ‘a little bit longer’ but she refused to give a definitive timescale.
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘We are going to have to be patient here. We have come this far and it has been really horrendously difficult for everybody, and some more than others.
‘It would really be the wrong thing to do to come this far on suppression after a second national lockdown, and particularly with the vaccination programme going so well, and ease up too quickly and send ourselves back the way.’
Ahead of the publication today of a revised ‘strategic framework’ for ending restrictions, the Scottish Government said the priority will continue to be ‘suppression of the virus to the lowest possible level’ as the best way to secure a sustainable exit from lockdown, while ‘striving to return to a more normal life for as many people as possible as quickly as it is safe to do so’.
Although it will focus on ‘data rather than hard and fast dates’, it will set out an indicative order of priority and proposed phases, with periods of at least three weeks between them.
Following the first groups of pupils returning to school yesterday, the immediate priority will continue to be getting more young people back to education, with the next possible phase taking place in the middle of next month.
This will be followed by sports activities for young people and limited social interaction for adults.
Last night, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘We hope that more children will be able to return to school later in March and we have published new guidance to enable an easing of restrictions on care home visiting from early March.
‘Beyond that, giving people the ability to meet loved ones, initially outdoors, is a priority for easing restrictions within the current Level 4.
‘As we get to a situation where we can move back to a levels approach, with all or part of the country moving down a level, we can start to carefully open up the economy again too.’
Miss Sturgeon caused controversy yesterday when she left a virtual meeting of the four nations of the UK early in order to host her televised coronavirus briefing.
The meeting, chaired by Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove, lasted 35 minutes but she left after 15 minutes.
A UK Government source said the talks are an ‘important forum for sharing information’ and added: ‘It is disappointing when someone cannot attend.
‘It is a decision for the Scottish Government but perhaps another minister could have taken part on Nicola Sturgeon’s behalf, or the chief medical officer could have given the televised daily briefing.’
A Conservative spokesman said: ‘It will raise more than a few eyebrows that Nicola Sturgeon’s priority is the BBC briefing over working together constructively with other governments.
‘She missed a pivotal discussion in favour of a TV appearance where nothing was announced. It shows the value that the SNP leader puts on these BBC briefings in the runup to the election in May.’
Miss Sturgeon said the call between the leaders had only been arranged on Sunday, and she had had no control over its timing.
And she said she had taken part in the four nations discussions ‘for as long as I could, consistent with my regular commitments’.
Speaking before Mr Johnson unveiled his full route map in the Commons, Miss Sturgeon said that, while the route out of lockdown will not be identical between different parts of the UK, there will be ‘broad similarities’.
She said she welcomed the Prime Minister’s plans for a ‘careful and cautious’ approach prioritising education. Miss Sturgeon added: ‘These principles will be the same, we are living through the same pandemic, there is a limit to how much it is sensible to diverge in circumstances we are facing in common.
‘But clearly we will make our own judgments about the particular order at the particular time, because the data is not identical in each of the four nations as well.’
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said: ‘What the Prime Minister has announced, that takes effect in England, allows us to see the whole way through the easing of these restrictions, from the early stages into the summer back to normality and I think we expect that from the First Minister, so people can see where they are now and where we will be in a few months’ time.’
Asked on the BBC about Mr Johnson’s decision to give dates, Mr Ross said: ‘You’ve got to trust the public and I think they understand that these are the dates they will meet if we are following all the triggers in the data that allow us to ease these restrictions. But I think
‘Every reason to be optimistic’
the public also understand if it doesn’t go that way we have got to delay these decisions for a little while as well.’
David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: ‘We’ve seen a lot of chopping and changing to the rules and restrictions affecting retail over the past couple of months.
‘Our hope is that the refreshed strategic framework delivers a more consistent and visible approach to future potential changes in coronavirus restrictions, and – given the welcome progress being made in bearing down on the virus – gives a firmer sense of the route back to trading as we emerge from lockdown.
STUC general secretary Roz Foyer said: ‘The Prime Minister was clearly desperate to announce some good news today. He may have indicated an outline plan but there are many uncertainties along the way.
‘It is essential that we continue to approach every step cautiously, particularly with the risks of new variants and the fear that employers will relax their health and safety regimes.
‘We hope that this necessary caution will be reflected in the First Minister’s announcement tomorrow.’
‘Chopping and changing’