Nicola Sturgeon defends UK response and says: ‘I’ll make mistakes’

Nicola Sturgeon has admitted the Scottish Government has made mistakes and declined to criticise the UK Government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak after one of her own MPs called it “botched” and “shambolic”.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon shows her appreciation during the weekly tribute thanks to NHS and key workers throughout the coronavirus outbreak

An SNP press release this week carried comments from MP Stewart Hosie, who highlighted failures in securing personal protective equipment (PPE) for health and care workers, and said the UK Government had been “far too slow, far too late, and far too chaotic in its approach so far”.

But Scottish ministers have also come under fire for a lack of PPE for care workers, with reports on Sunday that at least six suppliers have approached the Scottish Government without getting a response.

Appearing on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, the First Minister said it was right that there was "as much consistency as possible" between the Scottish and UK Government response to the outbreak, particularly on entering and exiting lockdown measures.

Asked about Mr Hosie’s comments, Ms Sturgeon said: “ I understand, because I'm First Minister leading a government, how difficult and unprecedented this situation is. We're all trying to make the best decisions.

“We can undoubtedly get things wrong along the way, as every government across the world will be, and I've been very clear about that from the outset.

“I'll make mistakes, everybody involved in leading these responses will make mistakes, but it's really important we take the best decisions we can at every single stage and try to learn from that as we go.”