First Minister says she will keep 'bond of understanding' between government and the public strong during coronavirus crisis

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said polling showed there was widespread agreement with the Scottish Government's approach of a gradual lifting of coronavirus restrictions.

During her daily briefing she quoted a poll that, she said, suggested the Scottish Government's approach to controlling the coronavirus outbreak was widely supported by the pubic.

“The polling reveals that there is widespread endorsement of the approach that we are taking in Scotland as, for example, 84 per cent of you agree with a slow and gradual at lifting of restrictions and 82 per cent of you agree that before further significant changes to lockdown restrictions (are made) the impact of those should be assessed.

“And 86 per cent of you continue to agree the decisions on where and how to lift restrictions must be based on saving lives and protecting the NHS.”

She said the poll suggested "that really important bond of understanding between government and the public in Scotland right now is currently very strong" and that she wants "to do everything I can to keep it that way."

She acknowledged “we can't live like this forever...we need to get some normality” and added: "You know, a life where we go to work but stay locked down with no family interaction for the rest of the time is not one that many of us, or any of us, would enjoy.

“So, given that we are likely to have quite a while to come where we will have very limited room for manoeuvre – and I want to stress that is the case – we will need to get these balances as right as possible.

“And in all of this, continuing to set out clearly why we're asking you to live your life in such a restrictive way is vital, so that you understand that we are not asking you to do this for no reason – and I will not ask you to do so for any longer than necessary.

“It never will be enough for me simply to tell you what I want you to do. I have to explain, I've got a duty to explain to you on an ongoing basis my reasons for that.

“Compliance with any matters we may need to keep in place will always be higher if I am clear, rational and straight with you about the difficult judgements that these are based on."

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.