Scotland’s legal Covid-19 restrictions will end on 21 March.
First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon today announced Scotland’s strategy for living with Covid. All legal restrictions on people and businesses will end on 21st March as Scotland seeks to “return to a normal way of life”, however people will still be advised to wear masks in shops and on public transport.
This comes after Scotland did not renew the controversial law on vaccine passports, meaning that the scheme will be set to end on 28th February. People will still be asked to self-isolate should they test positive for Covid-19, however self-isolation has at no point been legally mandated in Scotland. Speaking today, Ms Sturgeon commented that self-isolation remains “one of the most fundamental public health protections that we have available to us.”
The Devil is in the Detail
While opposition parties generally welcomed a move away from the legal restrictions, many MSPs expressed concerns about the contingency measures that the Scottish Government will keep in place. Leader of the Scottish Conservatives Douglas Ross criticised the Government for extending the powers underpinning face mask and vaccine passport rules until September, asking “If it is no longer necessary or justifiable to keep restrictions in place, why is it necessary or justifiable for the government to cling on to control over those powers and keep the threat of restrictions hanging over the public?”
Similarly, Scottish Liberal Democratic leader Alex Cole-Hamilton questioned the continuation of the apps which underpin the vaccine passport system. These will remain live so that venues will have the choice of using the system. On this, he said “Far from abolishing Covid ID cards, this will normalise their use by some businesses, perhaps indefinitely – from now on venues will have carte blanche to ask for private medical information without a public health imperative.”
Testing Remains Testy Territory
Testing was a dominant theme in Ms Sturgeon’s announcement. However, some argued that the statement gave more questions than answers. Scottish Labour’s Deputy Leader, Jackie Baillie said “at a time when people are looking for more certainty about the future, there are not yet answers to some of these fundamental questions about what will be in place to protect Scots. We were promised a framework, this appears more like a progress report.”
It is on this issue that tensions between the UK and Scottish governments are most clearly seen. In response to Ms Baillie’s point, Ms Sturgeon accused Westminster of “failing to take decisions in an orderly and competent fashion”, saying this had “a knock-on effect on Scottish government decision making.”
While the announcement today was broadly in line with Boris Johnson’s announcement that England’s restrictions will be removed on Thursday, Ms Sturgeon expressed her disagreement with the Prime Minister on the issue of testing. As an area of policy that operates UK-wide, decision-making about Scotland’s testing system lies in Westminster and the First Minister called for “more clarity from the UK government on available resources.” However, with the end of universal testing coming on April 1st, it is likely that further free testing beyond this date would have to be funded from the existing budget of the Scottish Government.
Against this backdrop, Ms Sturgeon said that while testing would remain a vital part of their strategy, they would be gradually moving towards “a more targeted system”. However, with the firm deadline of April 1st given by the Prime Minister, if a truly gradual approach is to be taken, it may cost the Scottish Government a lot as they scale down testing.
