Coronavirus: Scotland prepared to diverge from rest of UK on lockdown measures if ‘necessary’, Sturgeon says

'I will be driven by what advice, science and my own judgement is telling me the right thing to do is,' says Scottish first minister

Scotland could diverge from the rest of the UK’s coronavirus lockdown measures if scientific advisers concluded it necessary, Nicola Sturgeon has suggested.

Speaking as severe restrictions on public life were extended for at least three weeks, the Scottish first minister also declined to speculate on a potential date measures could be lifted or relaxed.

The SNP leader’s remarks come after she attended the UK government’s emergency Cobra meeting on Thursday to sign off the decision to maintain social distancing measures in an effort to prevent a second peak of the virus.

Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Ms Sturgeon said that while “consistency” in approach across the UK was desirable, Scotland could take different steps and measures to curb the spread of covid-19.

“If I was being advised, and if the judgement I was apply to that advice told me that I had to do something different to the rest of the UK because it was right and necessary to continue to control the virus in Scotland, of course I would do that,” she said.

Ms Sturgeon went on: “I think people would find it astounding if I said anything different to that. But I will be driven by what advice, science and my own judgement is telling me the right thing to do is.

“I think, for the reasons I’ve set out about viruses not respecting borders but also for simplicity of messaging, I think the more consistency we can have across the UK in how we do these things, the better.

“But all of us have a duty and I think all leaders, I guess, we may be reaching certainly different judgements on different things at different times, but we’re all, I’m pretty sure, trying to do our very best here to deal with a very challenging and a very difficult situation.”

Speaking at the No 10 press briefing on Thursday, Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary who is deputising for Boris Johnson in his absence, justified an extension to the lockdown claiming the government’s scientific advisers had found indications the spread of the virus had slowed, but it was a “mixed and inconsistent” picture.

The rate of infection was “almost certainly below one in the community”, he said, meaning infected people were passing the disease on to fewer than one other person on average. “But, overall, we still don’t have the infection rate down as far as we need to,” Mr Raab added.

He said there was “light at the end of the tunnel” but warned that the nation had “sacrificed too much to ease up now” on the restrictions.