Sturgeon curbs ‘far too gung-ho’
First Minister is urged to admit she was wrong over her ‘rushed’ virus regulations
NICOLA Sturgeon has been condemned for taking a ‘gung-ho’ approach to imposing draconian Covid curbs on families and businesses.
The First Minister was told she had made the ‘wrong call’ by rushing to introduce a series of strict measures to tackle the Omicron variant in the run-up to Christmas.
But she insisted she will continue to act cautiously and claimed that ‘throwing caution to the wind’ could result in more severe illness and deaths.
It came days after Miss Sturgeon announced she will scrap additional restrictions introduced in response to Omicron – including physical distancing rules in indoor places, limited capacities for indoor events, and a ban on non-professional indoor sport – from Monday.
But Boris Johnson went further still and announced on Wednesday that face masks, vaccine passports and work from home guidance would be scrapped in England.
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross highlighted comments from Nationalist MP Pete Wishart, who said it was a ‘fair point’ to suggest Miss Sturgeon may have got it wrong over extra curbs.
Mr Ross said: ‘The First Minister imposed restrictions that had a massive impact on jobs, on businesses, on people’s mental and physical health, but we can now see that they weren’t needed. It was the Scottish public’s actions, not the SNP Government’s restrictions, that got this right.
‘The First Minister has tried to build a reputation for caution during this pandemic, but she was far too gung-ho in imposing extra restrictions last month. Will she now accept that her Government went too far?’
But Miss Sturgeon defended her ‘balanced protective measures’, and highlighted concerns from doctors, nurses and trade unions about Mr Johnson’s actions.
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘We are not out of the woods yet, although things look far more positive, but I am going to continue to take a cautious approach because, frankly, the price of throwing caution to the wind is not paid by governments, the price of throwing caution to the wind is paid by people across the country in terms of ill health and, in some cases, serious illness and death. That’s a price I don’t think that I should impose on the people of Scotland.’
The First Minister has been accused by business leaders of ‘dragging her heels’ on plans to publish a new strategic framework for dealing with Covid.
A spokesman for the First Minister was yesterday unable to say when it would be published, but confirmed it is not expected to be in the next week. Yesterday’s figures showed 8,262 new Covid cases were reported in the previous 24 hours in Scotland, including 3,694 at PCR testing sites. There was a big decline in the number of patients in hospital with Covid, which fell by 57 to 1,514.
Mr Ross warned that restrictions can also cause serious illness and death. He said: ‘Not only did the First Minister impose unnecessary restrictions, she actually wanted to go further. The First Minister repeatedly claimed throughout December that the UK Government was holding her back from putting Scotland into lockdown again.
‘She wanted to close down the economy, no matter the impact that would have on Scottish jobs and businesses.’
He also highlighted that compensation promised to businesses has still not been delivered.
Miss Sturgeon accused Mr Ross of taking an ‘opportunistic’ approach by opposing her actions.
He responded: ‘It is not opportunistic to trust the people in Scotland, to trust that they can learn to live with Covid rather than having to live with her Government’s restrictions, which are having a massive impact on jobs, on businesses and communities, and they are not getting the money or the support that they were promised.
‘The First Minister has got the big decisions wrong over the last few months: too quick to bring in unnecessary Covid restrictions, too late to launch mass vaccination centres, too late to change the selfisolation rules, too late to get funding to businesses who need it.
‘The First Minister says she doesn’t shy away from mistakes she has made in the handling of this pandemic. Can she finally just admit that, by introducing these tough restrictions before Christmas and by wanting to introduce even tougher restrictions, she has simply made the wrong call?’
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘I will let the people of Scotland judge the impact of the calls that I and my Government have made.’
‘Unnecessary restrictions’ ‘Massive impact on businesses’