IT starts earlier every year doesn’t it? Christmas. Christmas. Christmas. It’s only November and we’re already compiling our naughty and nice lists, deciding which family members have made the cut and who’s bubble has sadly burst.
It’s like all our beautiful festive traditions have just been abandoned. In the olden days, we were perfectly able to make excuses to not see our extended family without the need for government interference, thank you very much. The big news this week was the long-awaited four-nations (five-day, three-household) Christmas guidance.
In the lead up to the announcement, the fierce debate on the issue brought together my two great loves: politics and Christmas. Proving, in the process, that good plus good sometimes equals bad. Like when Bruce Willis made a guest appearance on Friends.
Over to FMQs on Thursday, where they were streaming The One Where They All Got Coal.
READ MORE: In full: All the rules for Scotland's Christmas gatherings explained
Patrick Harvie was beamed-in remotely and treated us to a close-up view of his swanky new spectacles, which made him look like the Demon Headmaster’s mild-mannered younger brother.
He asked about the new Christmas guidance and whether the message to the public was clear enough.
“I recognise that there were difficult judgments to make about relaxing the Covid rules over the holidays – especially after public expectations had been built up – but within a day of announcing the looser rules, the First Minister was appealing to the public not to use them. It’s a confusing message.”
He went on: “And let’s look at what the public health experts are saying … including Professor Devi Sridhar who said that we are going to pay for the Christmas holidays with probably a January national lockdown.”
“The national clinical director, Jason Leitch, said that no risk assessment had been made of the impact the guidance will have. If so, that seems deeply irresponsible.
“Can the First Minister confirm that is the case? If it is, how can the Scottish Government ensure that the NHS is prepared for the third wave that the new rules risk creating?”
The First Minister said that she accepted it was a complex situation and “like so many” of the decisions around Covid over the past few months, it is one the Scottish Government had “agonised” over.
READ MORE: Lesley Riddoch: It's a no-win situation, but do we want Covid for Christmas?
“There is a recognition of reality here. Christmas, because of the particular circumstances and nature of that time of the year - the fact that at that time of the year people worry more about leaving loved ones alone - that some people may feel that they cannot stay within the rules as they are right now. So instead of just allowing that to happen in a haphazard way, we decided it was better to try and put some guidance and some boundaries around that.”
The First Minister went on to say that she wanted to make it clear to people that household mixing over Christmas does bring risk and that the “default advice” should be that - if you can - you should avoid “interacting physically” over Christmas.
Interacting physically is so 2019 anyway. Put that mistletoe away! Super-spreader Santa will be getting no kisses from me under the tree this year.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel