So now we are allowed to visit second homes.......

[Loadsadosh]

Is this a case of do what I say, not what I do......
“The Chief Medical Officer in Scotland, Catherine Calderwood, 51, was snapped strolling across a golf course with her husband and kids after flouting lockdown advice by heading to her coastal property this weekend.”

The response from the Scottish Government......
”An SNP Government spokesman replied: “Since this start of this epidemic, the CMO has been working seven days a week preparing Scotland’s response.
“She took the opportunity this weekend to check on a family home in Fife as she knows she will not be back again until the crisis is over.
“She stayed overnight before returning to Edinburgh. In line with guidance she stayed within her own household group and observed social distancing with anyone she was in passing in the village.”

I am sure everyone else who has a second home would like to use it, or check on it, as well! Am I being unfair in thinking this is double standards and an absolute disgrace that this has been defended by a Government spokesman.

I wonder who knew. It seems unlikely she didn't mention her weekend plans to a colleague (like we do) of if she didn't, she went knowing what they'd say.

Incredibly naive to think she wouldn't be spotted but I suppose the role has only become high profile in the last few weeks.

I don't know if she "deserves" to be sacked but there's no way she can stay in her post and be effective.

The whole point of her is to be a credible figure whose advice people believe and comply with.

Doing what she's done is worse than having done nothing at all and leaving it to the politicians. Now people can see that the expert doctor didn't think the rules were worthwhile.

I am sure the residents of Ballater are happy to have Charles at Birkhall. He has done a lot to support that village.

Completely irrelevant. Everyone has a reason or an excuse, either everyone can decamp and put additional strain on rural services or nobody can.

The Queen's main official residence is Buck House. Windsor is her weekend home. The fact that her weekend cottages and holiday homes are palaces and castles doesn't make them any less second, third and fourth homes.

She’s been useless anyway. And now definitely deserves to be sacked. Going to her second home in Fife with family and dog, are you fucking kidding me right now.

I think her problem now is one of credibility. Every time she says “stay at home, simple message” the whole country will think “not simple enough for you”. It’s a pretty huge mistake which clearly shows she doesn’t entirely believe her own message. Yes you're probably right. Her adverts look a bit meaningless now.

@Chocolate1984 Elie is not 35 minutes from Edinburgh it’s a good hour and a bit. It’s 45 minutes from me and I live in Fife.

That is beside the point though, she could have (though shouldn’t have) gone up and down in a day. She wanted a day at Fife’s loveliest beach. I would like to go too, with my family and dog and no one else, but I am not allowed. I am not one for sacking people for dumbfuckery, but honestly this is just going to make people go out because Catherine did it, so I do think she needs to step down. Which is a shame as we don’t have enough women in these jobs as it is.

This utter utter pillock is my MP

I'm honestly not surprised.

What makes me laugh about this is that before the SNP got in it was not uncommon for people in Scotland to have second homes. House prices are lower here and with low interest rates and poor returns on shares, property was a sound investment with the added bonus of free holidays away. When the SNP got in, they declared war in second home owners. We are taxed out of existence. We are apparently depriving the homeless. Despite the fact that many of these type of properties are in rural areas with no jobs, infrequent public transport and expensive utilities (many rural properties have no mains gas which makes them expensive to heat) our ownership of them is somehow depriving a poor family somewhere of somewhere to live. It's ludicrous. No-one would want to live there full time unless they were retired. Even selling second properties is fraught with issues because capital gains tax often means you would get back less than you paid. It's a no win situation. But it seems plenty of SNP politicians happily own second and even third homes. It's a case of don't do as we do, do as we say. And that includes following rules about essential journeys in a lockdown situation 😡 xx

Such hypocrisy. She should be sacked.

I agree with the majority of comments here. You can’t hammer home one rule for the majority of people and then ignore it yourself. It doesn’t matter how hard you’re working, Senior you are, how sensible you are. In fact, it is because of her position she needs to be above reproach.

The big issue is that what she did was DANGEROUS and by that, I mean because she has given people an excuse to roll out their version of common sense and if everyone tweaks the rules then the virus will spread and more people will die.

All of that said, she has apologised which is what should have happened straight away. I don’t want to see her sacked... but then how can she keep a straight face when telling people to stay at home and avoid non essential travel?

What a disappointment.

I don't think the situation has been handled well at all tbh, and rather than defending her she should have been removed from post which would have prevented the witch-hunt (to some degree).

There's no way that loading your entire family into the car, driving for an hour and staying overnight is a mistake. That's a deliberate action. There's no way she can deliver that message with authority now, unfortunately, or defend her actions. Imagine the people who have cancelled their wedding or been unable to attend the funeral of friends or family hearing her deliver the message about staying in now.

If it was a matter of checking the property for insurance purposes, one person could have gone and returned home. Not an overnight family stay.

You don’t know if she deserves to be sacked?? Huh? Yes, she deserves to be sacked for breaking the rules and thinking it’s fine for her to do so. CMO my eye. What a hypocrite.

The Queen's main official residence is Buck House.

She has an official birthday too but that doesn’t make it her real one. Windsor is her private home and she generally spends more nights there than at Buckingham Palace.

I blame all this on classless Kate and Nice but dim Wills.

Yes but this person is a CHIEF MEDICAL
OFFICER. How pitiful were her actions and how arrogant her attitude.

She should step down. She is either guilty of flouting her own rules (which she considers necessary and proper) or she has supported the imposition of rules that she actually considers unnecessary. The fact is none of us know which it is and that undermines the entire government response.

* She should resign as she now has no credibility in giving advice.*

Speak for yourself.
My view of someone is based on so much more than one incident (that I regard as very minor).

I think defending it made it a much bigger issue.

What were they thinking? It wasn't going to go away, deflecting and making excuses was only going to make things last longer and do more damage.

Yes, for most people it would be a minor misjudgment but coronavirus containment is her entire job right now. It goes right to heart of her credibility.

This woman is setting and promoting the guidelines and to flout them so blatantly and allow her family to do so alongside her would make me seriously question her judgement. Either she Is so arrogant she thinks rules don’t apply to her or she is so stupid she doesn’t understand rules she herself has set.

This ^^

There are hundreds of posts on mn of individuals suggesting that what they are doing or planning might not be an essential journey, but it's not adding to their risk, or to others'. The might cry in response is "NO!!" follow the rules. We cannot all make our own interpretations and justifications without risking the collective adherence to this situation, and therefore risking health, life etc.

The CMO and her family have the privilege and good fortune to live in a lovely home in Edinburgh. They are not overcrowded, they are not stuck indoors without a garden, they are not facing massive debt or unable to pay the rent. There was no need for them to 'get away from it all, and enjoy a lovely family walk. As pp said: it's either arrogance or stupidity. Neither look very good.

I do wish people would not confuse ‘making a mistake’ with ‘quite deliberately doing something you know you shouldn’t, while imagining you’ll never be found out.’

Agree - her 'mistake' was getting caught, not making the trip.