Analysis: Is Nicola Sturgeon happy with the Christmas Covid-19 restrictions?

Nicola Sturgeon has known for months now – and has warned the public as such – that the Christmas period in 2020 would be anything but normal.

Is Nicola Sturgeon happy with Scotland's Christmas Covid-19 relaxations?

It is not a shock to anyone in Scotland who has not been spending the past eight months claiming masks are pointless, or the vaccine is an opportunity for Bill Gates to continue implanting chips in arms, or proclaiming the Magna Carta allows them to keep their business open, that this Christmas period will be tough.

And given the political suicide it would be to effectively ‘ban Christmas’, it also comes as no surprise there is a move to relax restrictions, even if just for a handful of days.

For the First Minister, however, that decision is a difficult one to square with after months of daily, sometimes repetitive, warnings about the dangers of mixing with other people or going to the pub.

In fact, to actively allow families to mix and travel goes against every public health mantra repeated since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Effectively ignoring the science on the issue to, as Ms Sturgeon puts it “reflect reality” of a pandemic-affected Christmas, has clearly not come easily.

Ms Sturgeon denied she had made any “concessions” and all governments had started the discussion with a common goal ahead of the four nations over the relaxations, but it would be surprising given the delay on the announcement if there was not some element of push-back from an otherwise cautious government.

But it is clear the First Minister is not convinced this is the right move as her pleading to the public to not take advantage of the rules makes abundantly clear.

It should be noted the general antipathy from the public and politicians towards Bishop John Keenan’s ‘Christmas ceasefire’ comments in October have been forgotten.

That – for a break in restrictions for Christmas celebrations – was a call to which public health experts and politicians responded with derision and mocked for a lack of scientific understanding.

However, the travel ban, the ban on household mixing and the relaxation of the rule of six have been discarded for five days.

In agreeing to this, Ms Sturgeon has effectively brought into policy a ‘Christmas ceasefire’.

No wonder she may feel she should have been Scrooge.

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