Covid-19

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 3 August 2021.

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The First Minister:

I do not want to get overly philosophical, but I am really confused about Graham Simpson’s concern. If his argument is that everybody is going to wear face coverings anyway, why is he so concerned that we are asking people to wear them? If he thinks that everybody is going to wear face coverings anyway, what freedom does he think that people need? Maybe I have been on my feet for too long today, but I am genuinely struggling to understand what the point of that question is, other than just to try to find a point of disagreement with the Scottish Government.

We think that it is really important that people continue to wear face coverings, so we will tell them that by saying that the law requires it. We will keep that under review. However, if, at the end of the day, Graham Simpson is saying that he agrees that everybody should wear a face covering, how we choose to do that seems to me to be of secondary concern. If I am missing something in that, I apologise, but I think that it is right to say to people, “You should still wear face coverings.”