‘Barefaced Sturgeon should be fined for failing to wear mask’
SCOTTISH First Minister
Nicola Sturgeon should be fined for breaking Covid-19 laws by failing to wear a face mask, according to a poll by the Sunday Express.
An overwhelming majority of those surveyed [71 per cent] believe the SNP leader should receive the same treatment as Boris Johnson, who paid a £50 penalty for attending a Downing Street party.
Ms Sturgeon has been one of the Prime Minister’s fiercest critics, claiming “the vast majority of the country” want him to resign.
But she has admitted failing to wear a face mask while visiting a barber shop near Glasgow, earlier this month, when it was still a legal requirement in Scotland.
Police Scotland said officers reminded her of the “importance of wearing a face covering when there is a legal requirement to do so”, but no further action was taken.
Ms Sturgeon said: “I have recognised I made an error in not having a mask on for literally a few seconds.”
She added: “I don’t think it is equivalent to what Boris Johnson is accused of.”
The SNP leader was pictured in the barbers in East Kilbride, as she campaigned ahead of the May 5 local elections.
Masks remained compulsory in Scotland indoors at public settings until April 18.
In 2020 Ms Sturgeon was pictured without a face mask as she attended a wake, prompting her to tell the Scottish Parliament “how sorry I am for my breach of rules that I ask all of us to follow”.
There have also been calls for a fresh police inquiry into claims Labour leader Sir
Keir Starmer broke lockdown rules.
Conservative MP Richard Holden has written to Durham Constabulary urging them to re-examine footage of Sir Keir having a beer with colleagues during lockdown, as he campaigned during last year’s Hartlepool by-election.
Police said in 2021 an offence had not been committed.