A route out with lots of dates... and was May 6th on her mind?

AFTER 12 months of facemasking, distance-keeping and loo-roll hoarding, Nicola Sturgeon’s easing of lockdown was oddly muted. Where was the jubilation, the streamers and the bunting?

For all that it traced the beginnings of a journey back to normality, the First Minister’s statement to Holyrood suffered from drawbacks. The path outlined was uneven and left some sectors of the economy still in the lurch, while loosening the rules across Scotland at once carries the risk that infection surges see the whole country back under lock and key.

Still, what a stroke of luck that all these rules could be lifted in April, which, with even more good fortune, just happens to be the eve of the Holyrood election.

Even so, only a miserable sort would not concede the good news that came in the First Minister’s update. The first week in April would see hairdressers reopen, while gyms would follow three weeks later. For those whose idea of lifting involves bars of a different kind, pubs would be permitted to reopen until 8pm by the end of April. Drinking indoors would still be forbidden but beer-garden boozing would be allowed until 10pm.

Three days later, 12 to 17-year-olds would be allowed to resume ‘contact sports’. From April 26, those parts of mainland Scotland previously in Level 4 would drop to Level 3.

Island communities in Level 3 would have the choice to go down to Level 2, accommodating the lower prevalence of the virus and the travel plans of visiting police sergeants investigating wicker structures.

The remain-at-home order would stay in place until April 2, after which Scots would be advised to ‘stay local’

– the League of Gentlemen phase of lockdown. Yet, for the hospitality trade, these modest changes may have come too late.

Sturgeon talked up ‘restart’ support, but the lack of certainty has seen the shutters come down on otherwise viable premises. It’ll take a lot more than what’s on offer to ‘restart’ vacant shop fronts and pubs with no beer.

THE First Minister drew a contrast between the situation in December, when the current lockdown was imposed, and the situation today.

Three months ago, we were facing ‘a dark moment in an unbelievably tough year’, but the future was sunnier because of ‘the hard and painful sacrifices that everyone has made’.

Sacrifices and, she added, the vaccination programme. She neglected to mention that said programme only came about because the UK Government negotiated, paid for and distributed every last vaccine vial. If Sturgeon had her way, we would still be subject to the EU vaccines regime.

We are indeed ‘in a much brighter position’, as the First Minister said, but it takes titanic levels of churlishness not to acknowledge how we got there.

Sturgeon concluded her statement with that dread part of all her updates: the ‘note of caution’. She reminded us that ‘the route back to normality depends on continued suppression’ and that ‘hundreds of us are still getting the virus every day’.

This is what made the pan-Scotland nature of the easing a matter for raised eyebrows: if this progress starts to reverse, how long before we’re back to square one?

Willie Rennie reminded the First Minister that she had promised to be led by ‘data not dates’, and yet her announcement was a lengthy list of dates. A cynic, or just someone familiar with how this Scottish Government operates, might remark that it was about one date in particular: May 6.

NON-essential journeys to other parts of the UK and the wider common travel area should be permitted from April 26 or soon after.

However, the risk of importing new variants of Covid means no date has yet been given as to when nonessential international travel, for instance holidays, can resume.

This is unlikely to be allowed before mid-May, and the Government has warned it may not resume for some time after that.

When foreign holidays are allowed again, pre-departure and postarrival testing will remain a requirement.