Covid Scotland: Douglas Ross has said that he is 'still particularly worried' that children will be wearing masks when they return to school

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross has said he is “still particularly worried that young people will be wearing masks when they return to school later on this month.”

He told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “They’ve had a year-and-a-half of disrupted learning already… we do have to look at how this impacts on all pupils.”

Mr Ross was also asked whether the UK Government would offer furlough support if local lockdowns are imposed in Scotland in future.

Covid Scotland: Douglas Ross has said that he is 'still particularly worried' that children will be wearing masks when they return to school

He said: “The UK Government will look to support individuals and businesses here in Scotland, as they have through the pandemic.

“My reading is the UK Government will continue to support business and individuals if that is required but we’re in a far better place than we were a few months ago because of the success of the vaccination scheme.”

Mr Ross was also questioned about Prime Minister Boris Johnson declining First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s invitation to meet during his visit to Scotland this week.

He said: “She put out her invite to the Prime Minister via Twitter… I’m not sure if he got it before everyone else got it on Twitter.

“His response was quite right, Nicola Sturgeon had agreed with the Prime Minister that Governments across the UK would meet together… that’s the right approach to take and that was the agreement made recently.

“There’s constant dialogue between the Scottish and UK governments.”

The First Minister addressed parliament on Tuesday to announce a further easing of restrictions from August 9 across the country.

Reporting by PA

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