LEONARD EASE LOCKDOWN RULES SO IT WON’T BE LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS

Let Scots celebrate Christmas with their families, Scottish Labour told Nicola Sturgeon yesterday.

Party leader Richard Leonard said the First Minister should put in place “sensible

PLEA Leonard special guidelines” for the festive period that will allow increased contact.

It comes after the Scottish Government’s national clinical director Jason Leitch said the prospect of large family gatherings was “fiction” and told the people of Scotland to prepare for a “digital Christmas”.

The incoming Level 2 of lockdown rules includes a ban on indoor meetings with other households, which would leave people alone on Christmas Day.

Leitch has suggested the Central Belt will be

placed under even more draconian Level 3 rules on November 2.

But Leonard said: “To tell people that they may not be able to see their families on Christmas Day is both cruel and unacceptable.

“It has been such a tough year that this could result in a greater Covid-19 infection risk because people will simply break all the rules.

“In the real world there are thousands of people, many living alone, who do not have the ability to celebrate a so-called ‘digital Christmas’.

“The First Minister needs to show a bit of human understanding and give the country hope by drawing up sensible special guidelines for the festive period.

“That might mean allowing two households to meet will adhering to social distancing and hand washing. If we are going to beat Covid-19, the Scottish Government needs to have the confidence and good will of the people.

“The danger is that by destroying all hope, public support for necessary restrictions will start to crumble.”

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said last night: “Given the rapidly changing nature of the pandemic, it is simply not possible to predict at this stage what restrictions may or may not be required over the Christmas and New Year holiday period.”