What restrictions will Nicola announce on Tuesday?

[ShiftingSands21]

Does anyone have a strong sense of what we should expect tomorrow?

BBC article says “There is likely to be flexibility around Christmas”. Oooh, thanks ever so.

@Yellow85 just read that, doesn't sound too bad at the minute. But then of course there's still 11 days until Christmas, so it could still change .

@GoldenOmber

BBC article says “There is likely to be flexibility around Christmas”. Oooh, thanks ever so.

Be grateful for your crumbs of comfort which Nicola is prepared to grant you, you ungrateful peasant.

It’s actually a pretty horrible way to do it as shops and restaurants and entertainment like theatres will be hit without getting any money or support

That said I’d much prefer guidance to laws again, and it’s more sustainable in the long run.

Not missing out on another Christmas with my family though. Last year we could technically meet up with some of them in terms of household numbers, but in reality we couldn’t because they’re across the UK and we weren’t supposed to travel, and we couldn’t have got there and back in a day anyway.

I would like to know how the household mixing guidance will apply within hospitality settings.

On the one hand it’s good if it will all be just guidance, on the other hand if it’s all totally fuzzy and unclear then we are all left with tricky decisions.

The NHS was on its knees before covid so the general population is now paying the price for underfunding and general mismanagement. The way NS and the rest of UK is going about this with a threatening 'will they/won't they' approach is nothing short of a disgrace. I won't be adhering to guidance and look forward to a big family Christmas.

@Catsolitude

Sturgeon could always take the £350m she’s ringfenced in the budget for the next independence campaign to support hospitality if she’s going to enforce restrictions.

That’s my feeling too!

NS does enjoy the restrictions. The fall out doesn’t impact her. She will still see her family, she won’t be worried where her next wage is and be worried sick about losing her job or the impact on her business. When you consider how many digs she gets in at Westminister during her announcements but in the same breath asking them for money because she can’t apply furlough, it’s a bit of a cheek.

I would say she quite enjoys having a epidemic as she is able to exert as much control as she’s allowed and all the while she can blame Westminister whilst ignoring the state of Scottish education and health and other failures under the SNP.

When she always has to go one step further than BJ and have rules thar make no sense. Like the rule that says I can go into a nightclub, I can dance I can get up close to anyone and I don’t have to wear a mask. But on my way home I must put a mask on and social distance. If I go to a wedding I must wear a mask for the ceremony but that evening I can go to the reception and dance the night with the same folk but maskless.

I can go to a concert at the Hydro, I can go and see live football but my niece in primary one has had her nativity cancelled.
Or the rule that said I couldn’t go into my parents house but I could meet them in a busy pub.

I don’t care what she announces, I’m so sick of this. I’ve had enough and I’ll do my own risk assessment.

@Onemorefortheroad

So much hate for Nicola Sturgeon 🙄

As if she enjoys having to put restrictions in place. People need a bit of a reality check here, it's a virus that has mutated and they are still trying to ensure that an already stretched NHS doesn't get any worse. Other countries have restrictions, it's not a Nicola Sturgeon thing.

People moaning about not getting their night out - absolutely ludicrous.

Surely you can see from this thread alone the amount of mental strain this put on people?!

The hate comes because its the constant drip feed, rolling out JS to test the water (which has happened no fewer then 3 times), the delays, lack of information for businesses and workers - nearly 3 weeks they refused to answer the question of what businesses an extension to vaccine passports would effect.

That is bloody massive it's not just about a night out!
Keeping people in a constant level of stress, refusing to provide basic statistics, refusal to produce evidence on effectiveness of "rules" she is enforcing on people's daily lives. No it's not ludicrous it effects people's mental health and wellbeing in a significant way.

By the way living under a constant level of stress is also incredibly bad for physical health a heightened state of fight or flight hormones makes the body more likely to suffer from conditions and illnesses (many studies show this).

If you fail to see the effects of the restrictions and constantness this causes on large percentage of the population then get your head out of the sand.

No she isn't responsible for a virus but she is responsible for the continued feeling of anxiety which occurs. The we will review every few weeks, the refusal to be up front about exactly what is happening. Its over 4 days of saying we are putting more stuff in place but you guys can just sit on your hands and wait for me on a podium!

Study this morning reported in The Times about the huge impacts of the pandemic on school children's mental health.

twitter.com/mark_mclaughlin/status/1470664824384274432

The Scottish Government's OWN FIGURES show that most secondary pupils' mental health is so poor that they are on the verge of depression. Because of the dithering over exams, masks never being removed, cancellation of shows, parties, dances. Banned from seeing their friends out of school.

And the uncertainty ramped up by Swinney and Sturgeon.

The whole situation is just a nightmare though. The NHS have moved their entire operation to vaccination as of Boris's announcement. He's ramped up the whole situation but no plans to pay for furlough and until that happens we can't do it either- tax and HMCRC aren't devolved. So there can only be grants/ loans given out and these really affect business tax rates in future years.

Sorry posted too soon
Because grants from the Scottish government are taxed as profit so not a good solution for business, needs to come from WM

@Scottishskifun You summarised the whole situation perfectly!

Oh I'm well aware of the impact of restrictions. Please don't assume that I'm not and have my head in the sand. I witness some of this first hand. What choice does the government have though? Do nothing and then be slated for that when it all goes wrong?

What about people who have basically been locked down this whole time due to long term conditions that make them vulnerable? The more the virus spreads the more fear they face - they haven't had a choice to have a night out.

We also can't afford to have whole teams of staff off their work at one time in the NHS so if that means missing a night out then so be it. It won't be that when you expect healthcare to treat anything unrelated to Covid.

I don't agree that people shouldn't be able to mix at all with family and friends but large scale nights out in pubs aren't exactly sensible at the moment - and I'm someone who enjoys plenty of these in normal times.

To those saying is doesn't affect Nicola Sturgeon. Of course it does. The worst thing she has done is briefly forgot to wear a mask at a funeral and people were calling for her resignation.

Boris and chums (that a surprising number of people appear to be defending) basically get away with doing whatever they want. Can you imagine if that was NS, or any other SNP politician for that matter? They'd be hauled through the coals.

She is by far the most down to earth, realistic, relatable politician in the UK and yes, isn't perfect but come on, people are actually thinking the UK government is doing much better?

@Scottishskifun and... she isn't waiting to get a moment on a podium. It's a Parliament that requires due process. If she didn't go through the correct means, she would be slammed for that also.

Boris and chums (that a surprising number of people appear to be defending) basically get away with doing whatever they want. Can you imagine if that was NS, or any other SNP politician for that matter? They'd be hauled through the coals.

What, like Margaret Ferrier, you mean? The one who tested positive for Covid and then got on a train home? I must have missed her being hauled through the coals.

Well said @Scottishskifun

The constant drip feed is just not how a government is supposed to act.

The mood of people has noticeably depressed over the weekend with the constant drip feee of "further restrictions are coming"

@visitingagain the Scottish government raise several billion of pounds that stays directly with them from different tax codes to WM thresholds it's not small change.

Ring fencing money for a referendum as well not small change.
If she wants to cause havoc on businesses again she can spend the money supporting them rather then moaning!
She magically found £500 per NHS worker last year (definitely deserved BTW) so the argument she doesn't have the cash is BS!

It’s legitimate for us to hate Nicola Sturgeon if we want. I really really don’t like her, I don’t trust her and I don’t think she’s done a good job. It’s my right to think that. No need to convince me otherwise. And it’s also fine for you to think the opposite. I do accept though that right now we’ve got a pretty big problem with omicron and no easy solutions to it.

@MLMshouldbeillegal

Boris and chums (that a surprising number of people appear to be defending) basically get away with doing whatever they want. Can you imagine if that was NS, or any other SNP politician for that matter? They'd be hauled through the coals.

What, like Margaret Ferrier, you mean? The one who tested positive for Covid and then got on a train home? I must have missed her being hauled through the coals.

Yeah you did miss it then. NS told her to resign but MF herself made the decision not to do so. She was then arrested and charged by Police Scotland.

What choice does the government have though?

They could be more forthright and honest with the public, rather than this drip-drip-doom effect of talking up plans without being specific about them. They could put some criteria and end goals for the restrictions they do put in place to give people something to work for, not just “we’ll review it in three weeks” and it stays indefinitely. They could look to what has worked elsewhere, rather than to what has not (we’re really looking to Ireland for household limits guidance??) They could have ditched the unworkable elimination plan earlier. They could be honest about the choices they are making rather than use language like “inevitable”. They could generally not give the impression that they have had to be dragged kicking and screaming to any substantial move back to normality. Just a few off the top of my head.

No I don’t think Westminster’s better, they’re being run by a sociopath. But I have expectations of my government beyond “not quite as awful as the Tories.”

@Onemorefortheroad

Oh I'm well aware of the impact of restrictions. Please don't assume that I'm not and have my head in the sand. I witness some of this first hand. What choice does the government have though? Do nothing and then be slated for that when it all goes wrong?

What about people who have basically been locked down this whole time due to long term conditions that make them vulnerable? The more the virus spreads the more fear they face - they haven't had a choice to have a night out.

We also can't afford to have whole teams of staff off their work at one time in the NHS so if that means missing a night out then so be it. It won't be that when you expect healthcare to treat anything unrelated to Covid.

I don't agree that people shouldn't be able to mix at all with family and friends but large scale nights out in pubs aren't exactly sensible at the moment - and I'm someone who enjoys plenty of these in normal times.

To those saying is doesn't affect Nicola Sturgeon. Of course it does. The worst thing she has done is briefly forgot to wear a mask at a funeral and people were calling for her resignation.

Boris and chums (that a surprising number of people appear to be defending) basically get away with doing whatever they want. Can you imagine if that was NS, or any other SNP politician for that matter? They'd be hauled through the coals.

She is by far the most down to earth, realistic, relatable politician in the UK and yes, isn't perfect but come on, people are actually thinking the UK government is doing much better?

People criticising the Scottish government aren't by default thinking the rest of the uk are doing any better. This here is exactly the problem - it's not a competition.

I didn't see many photos of ns at the cop26 with a mask on. Did see several photos of her with other leaders and none were wearing masks.

There are plenty other things the Scottish government are doing that deserve to be strongly questioned - they have endured that in their current guise I cannot vote for them

Any criticism of NS is always met with “but, but, Boris, Tories” 🙄 It’s really tedious.

@Scottishskifun perfectly summarised.

@Scottishskifun it's not actually that simple- even if all of that money was given to business it couldn't be put through the tax system as that's HMCRC which is uk controlled. They could give grants or loans but businesses would need to either repay them or actually purchase materials with the grants, they couldn't be used to cover staffing like furlough. If they are then the business gets hammered for tax as the grants are seen as profit.
In addition, that's not some extra money, it's part of the budget.
There are many things the UK government could take money from for furlough... they also spend a load of money on constitutional departments like en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_O%27Brien