Nicola Sturgeon urges Scots not to get ‘distracted’ by lockdown changes in England
Nicola Sturgeon reminded Scots that lockdown changes in England "do not apply here"
2 min read
Nicola Sturgeon has told Scotland that lockdown changes announced by Boris Johnson on Sunday “do not apply here”.
The Scottish First Minister told the country “not to get distracted by messages from other parts of the UK”, as she said it was “too soon” to lift restrictions in Scotland.
Speaking at the daily Scottish government briefing in Edinburgh she said: “Last night, the Prime Minister set out some of the details of his plan, for easing restrictions in England.
“More of the detail of that has emerged this morning – and will continue to come out, during the day.
“I want to reiterate that those announcements do not apply here.
“That is not, I want to stress, for any political reason.
“It is because the Scottish Government is not yet confident that these changes can be made in Scotland without us running the risk of the virus potentially running out of control.”
Ms Sturgeon also repeated that Scotland would not be adopting the British Government’s new ‘Stay Alert’ message, insisting that “our key message to ‘Stay at Home’ remains the same”.
And the First Minister was heavily critical of the new lockdown slogan revealed over the weekend, again branding it “vague and imprecise”.
Her statement comes after both the devolved Scottish and Welsh governments insisted they would not be relaxing rules in line with England.
Both nations have confirmed that schools and non-essential shops will remain closed.
But Ms Sturgeon did tell Scots that the once-a-day limit on exercise would be scrapped in the country, allowing people to go outside more often.
She told reporters in Edinburgh: “If we take our foot off the brake too soon, the real danger is we will end up in this lockdown for longer - and worse of all, we will lose many more people along the way.
“None of us want that. So please be patient. And please try not to get distracted by messages from other parts of the UK.
“All governments across the UK are trying to do the right thing and all of us have a responsibility to take the steps we think are right, at the right time.
“So please if you live in Scotland, abide by the law that applies here and follow the Scottish Government guidance.”
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