The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland has signalled that, if it cannot open Edinburgh zoo by the end of the month, it may face closure, which would threaten 300 jobs in my constituency. Even with the furlough scheme in place, the society faces a burn rate of £700,000 in every month in which the zoo stays shut. It has adapted the zoo so that it can be operated safely for people to visit outdoors only, and with adequate social distancing measures in place. If it were to be allowed to open now, it could see a pathway to recovery.

The United Kingdom Government will allow English zoos to reopen from next Monday, so will the First Minister listen to the more than 3,000 people who have signed my petition and allow Scottish zoos to reopen their doors now, before they face collapse?

As will be the case in every instance, example or illustration that members might give me, I have nothing but sympathy for the position that organisations such as the owner of Edinburgh zoo find themselves in. I want to be in a position in which we can signal reopening to such organisations as quickly as possible. However, we must do so in a careful and properly assessed way. We cannot start to take individual decisions based on particular circumstances or organisations—not because we do not desperately want to do what such organisations are asking of us, but because if we started to operate in that way we would end up in a mess. The virus might run out of control and we would then have to reverse some of those decisions.

Each Government has to take decisions on the basis of the advice that it receives and its own judgment. It is only a few weeks since I was being asked why we were not following a similar timetable to England on schools reopening, and yet now we are seeing a reversal of that timetable. We need to do things in a measured and carefully assessed way, which will mean not only that we will be able to get places open more quickly but that we will be able to have them opening in such a way that they will not face having to close again a few weeks afterwards. That will involve making a series of careful decisions. As I have said all along, this process is not a popularity contest. It is about trying to get things right, which I will continue to strive to do.