Nicola Sturgeon's announcement - not sure I follow the logic of the latest COVID openings / restrictions?

[IwishIwasyoda]

So if I have got this right - 77 confirmed cases today which is the most for a while - but NS has announced that gyms and swimming pools can open on 31 August (not 14 Sept as previously indicated). Also bingo halls, amusement arcades and casinos can open yet people still have to SD indoors when meeting other households. Number positive cases in schools (but at pains to say no transmission in school).

Don't get me wrong I think schools should be open but not entirely sure it is a good idea to open lots of other things until the situation has settled a little. I also don't really understand how swimming pools /gyms shared facilities / equipment can be safe ...

Meanwhile powers being given to the police to break up house parties but no ability as far as I can see to enforce/ensure quarantine for those returning from abroad from high risk areas.

The more this goes on the less it all makes sense to me. I am assuming the main driver now is the economy and there has been lobbying from various interest groups to allow them to open up.

Community access to Uni gym in our case.

They're at it again today- that Hyslop woman rattling off a long list of stuff she wants the UK government to do.

This needs to end. It's a total party political broadcast which has been moved from 12.30 at the height of the pandemic to 12.15 to give them an extra 15 minutes a day to preach at us.

We don't need this. It's overkill when cases are SO low.

They're at it again today- that Hyslop woman rattling off a long list of stuff she wants the UK government to do.

Absolutely. What is this doing in a public health briefing? Quite apart from the sheer hypocrisy of demanding Westminster finance Scotland (for another two years?) when they (supposedly) want complete independence from Westminster, this has nothing to do with public health. I make a point of switching off after the initial stats (which I'd actually be happy to wait another couple of hours for) because the SNP should not be given this kind of daily political platform.

In fact I've just complained again that the SNP are being given this kind of political platform to discuss areas as diverse as housing, the economy, justice, education and I'm sure many more under the guise of a health briefing without any counterbalance from opposition parties whatsoever.

I think we need the daily briefing. There is so much confusion about figures and rules. It's easy to pull up the day's briefing and find out where we are. It's hardly a party broadcast when they're following Boris so closely regarding schools and inconsistent reopenings.
Like the OP, I'm interested in the pressure groups pushing for certain sectors. It's definitely not 'the science' that's guiding WM or SG.

I'll be very annoyed if they pull the briefing to pander to anti-SNP activists. We are in the middle of a pandemic. We do need daily updates. And we need transparency and accountability.

Lobby for extra space for other parties or for reps from other parties to help give the briefings. Don't take away a source of essential public health information. That's the most self-defeating nonsense I've ever read and there's a pretty high bar.

it's easy to pull up the day's briefing and find out where we are

it's even easier to pull up the Travelling Tabby site each day at 3pm and look at the graphs without having to listen to 45 minutes of waffle. It's totally unnecessary, unless they have something important to announce.

I was going to mention travelling tabby as well @SockYarn . It's a great site and now also has the daily England figures to look at as well.

We're hardly in the middle of a pandemic if no one has died for at least 3 weeks. A weekly briefing would be more than adequate.

There are plenty of ways where the message can be communicated without any politics being involved, figures can be released on the news bulletin, social media, national /local radio etc. There are plenty of adverts and websites where the current rules are explained and reminders are given. There should only be the longer 45 min briefing when there is more to discuss such as a change in restrictions that effects everyone.

I'd also argue that we are not in the middle of a pandemic. We are in a state where an infection is circulating and we are managing it via track and trace and some restrictions and local lock downs.

I'd also argue that we are not in the middle of a pandemic. We are in a state where an infection is circulating and we are managing it via track and trace and some restrictions and local lock downs.

^^Absolutely this.

We are not in a critical phase at the minute, infection rates are stable at a low level and we have a much better idea of what we're dealing with. Most epidemiologists are predicting that this will go on well into next year - should the SNP be allowed air time every day to talk about seemingly whatever they choose (health related or not) without any challenge and without equal exposure for other parties right up until the next Holyrood elections?

@BottomOfMyPencilCase Couldn't agree more. Schools reopening fully is the biggest risk factor so far in the loosening of lockdown.

Can only imagine the bitter comments that would be written if the FM was away on a holiday just now and the PM was doing thrice weekly public health updates.

Don't think we need a 45 minute briefing though, and it is turning into a bit of a party political broadcast which is definitely not supposed to happen.

Love The Travelling Tabby - concise, clear and I really hope the young man behind the website goes on to great things!

Don't think we need a 45 minute briefing though, and it is turning into a bit of a party political broadcast which is definitely not supposed to happen.

We definitely don't. We need a statement when things change - and at the moment the appear to be moving on a three weekly basis. There is also the justification for a brief statement when something changes like the new travel bans/quarantines.

But there is NO justification for 45 minutes each weekday to tell us that there are no deaths, no hospital admissions, clusters that they are on top of. Because that's all they say. Every day.

Things change daily. Some don't have access to the internet and rely on the tv updates.

Things change daily. Some don't have access to the internet and rely on the tv updates.

Yes, which is why the updates can just be given by the newsreader on the lunchtime news bulletin unless there is any major changes to be communicated.

@Y0uCann0tBeSer10us

Absolutely. What is this doing in a public health briefing? Quite apart from the sheer hypocrisy of demanding Westminster finance Scotland (for another two years?) when they (supposedly) want complete independence from Westminster, this has nothing to do with public health

We've been told categorically that there will be no 2nd Independence referendum, so there's going to be no independence in the next two years. Given that Westminster is essentially stating that they unequivocally WILL be financing Scotland for the next few years, how on earth is it 'hypocritical' for Scottish people to state their preferences for what shape they'd like that finance to take?

Can't believe the gurning in this thread about the briefings. Oh no wait, yes I can, because in the eyes of 90% of mumsnetters the SG can do no right. If you don't like the briefings, turn the TV off, complain to the BBC, and stop handing them your licence fee payment. Problem solved.

Regarding Westminster financing Scotland, it's only a loan they've taken out on our behalf and Scottish taxpayers will re pay this. Plus interest.
In an independent Scotland, as most well led countries do, an investment fund would have created the funds needed to cover shortfalls in harder times.
The UK is a cluster*uck economically. £2 trillion in debt. Tory austerity has crippled families but we haven't seen anywhere near what's about to come. 😪
The UK furlough scheme is poor compared to the furlough schemes of other, smaller countries.
It's also worth noting that the cost of leaving the EU thus far is more than the cost borne from furlough. Yet furlough will stop in October causing many to be unemployed and resort to food banks to feed their children.

EU trade talks? 'Effectively going backwards' Barnier says and highly unlikely a deal will be done. Scotland of course have been given the green light to join.

Scotland benefits from receiving more in spending from the UK than it raises in taxes, and borrows at the lowest rate possible as part of a state with a central bank with world wide respect. As always, anybody interested in the economics of independence should look for informed debate about this.

@XDownwiththissortofthingX I am happy being British and I think the furlough scheme is a prime example of the advantages of being in the union rather than a much smaller independent country that wouldn’t have the same kind of borrowing power as one of the largest economies in the world (and remains so even after Brexit).

If it were up to me we wouldn’t be having another referendum for a lot longer than two years - we’ve had nothing but constitutional division for the best part of a decade and it’s made Scotland a much more unpleasant place to live. Personally I’m sick of all of it. But the SNP have not accepted that there won’t be another referendum in the next two years have they? NS was until recently insisting there would be one this year, and the National is making a lot of recent opinion polls. In fact there are factions preparing a Plan B in case Westminster says no again. So yes, it is hypocritical is insist that big bad Westminster, who has already stopped a lot of Scottish businesses going to the wall, extend furlough for another two years while continue to do everything you can to demonise them to create support for independence.

One last very important point. The Scottish people have not expressed a view on the shape the finances should take, the SNP led Scottish government has. The Scottish government is not Scotland and does not speak for all Scots.

This might have escaped notice. But they've closed loads of test centres. There now seems only to be 6 for the whole country.
My friend tried to book a test last week got various options where to go. I tried to book this weekend the options seemed to be Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee airports and three walk in places in distant locations!

Both Glasgow and Edinburgh were fully booked.

Blackbear order a test online, they're very quick. You'll have a priority postbox near you to return it in.

@MumofHunter I'm already paying more tax than the equivalent tax payer in England as someone who is just over the Scottish higher rate.

I do not believe that the covid circumstances in Scotland justify a longer and more generous furlough period than the rest of the UK, particularly as it means I will be paying even more in tax.

I wasn't an SNP supporter anyway - unless anyone can show me without recourse to oil prices more than 2 years out of date how it stacks up economically. But the bit that rankles - actually more than rankles in all this - is that a couple of months ago, whilst garden centres and golf courses were opening up - they were telling us that blended learning aka DCs going into school 1-2 days a week, was the only schooling option being offered, which would have led to many parents- mostly women - having to resign, and our DCs futures being severely compromised.

Ok they back tracked and Boris the bumbler screwed up a lot on his message, but at least fundamentally he understood that DCs going back to school is a top priority, without having to be forced i to that position.

What?! The English Government u- turned literally the day before schools were due to open. That was a total f up! My teacher friends are not confident the same thing won't happen again in September either.

I've just had another go at booking. May have been a glitch and tests are back available at various places.
I'm thinking it might have been a website glitch.

Also I'm not asking anyone to pay more tax to cover furlough. The point is that most countries can afford a longer furlough than we are getting in the UK.

www.businessforscotland.com/revealed-the-accounting-trick-that-hides-scotlands-wealth/ Wee read if anyone fancies!