Covid: Keeping Edinburgh in Tier 3 is a political decision by Nicola Sturgeon – Ian Murray MP

I support the five-level system and we’ve done everything asked of us by the government, driving infection rates down since tougher measures were introduced in October.

We were promised a ’16-day’ lockdown, which has now lasted more than 60 days, but we’ve persisted with the guidelines to keep each other safe.

Edinburgh now has the same indicator scores as three areas moving to Level 2, we’re outperforming other areas dropping a tier, and we’re doing almost as well as two areas going to Level 1. So it seems clear: Edinburgh merits moving to Level 2. The only reason we remain stuck in the higher level is because of a political decision taken by Nicola Sturgeon.

Even the SNP leader of the city council and SNP Lord Provost are angered by this. Livelihoods and people’s jobs are now on the line.

When restaurants and pubs don’t re-open because they’ve gone out of businesses, and thousands of workers are made unemployed, the blame lies squarely with the First Minister.

The hospitality industry in our capital city is being decimated by these decisions.

The Scottish Beer & Pub Association has said the nationalists’ decision could cost pub businesses in Edinburgh up to £3.2 million in lost turnover, with 185 pubs remaining shut which would otherwise be open in Level 2.

Everyone must continue to abide by the rules, but it’s time we were treated like adults. That was what was promised back in March by the Scottish government.

Huge questions remain. Principally, what is the criteria for Edinburgh moving to Level 2? The Scottish government still can’t answer this. In fact, they’ve deviated from their own framework.

In asking Edinburgh residents to help keep the virus under control, the SNP government must meet its side of the bargain.

That starts by supporting the businesses affected. Throughout the pandemic, financial support packages have repeatedly been less generous than other parts of the UK, with deadlines for applying suddenly brought forward and money languishing in government coffers.

Up to £1bn in emergency funding from the UK government still hasn’t been allocated by the Scottish government.

This should be used to protect jobs and businesses across all affected sectors: not just hospitality premises, but B&Bs and taxi drivers etc as well.

And the SNP government needs to get Test-and-Protect functioning properly.

It botched both the roll-out of the testing regime and the hiring of contact tracers, and the performance of the system is still wanting.

From November 30 to December 6, over 4,000 positive individuals were unable to contacted, and tracing is relying on SMS messages even where a mobile number is available.

I have met with the pub trade to hear their concerns and have raised these with the Scottish government.

The industry’s figures received through contact tracing suggest only 0.0007 per cent of pub customers in Edinburgh were infected since July. These figures are minuscule compared to the restrictions in place on the industry that risk their survival.

The Scottish government should publish the exact data showing actual infection rates from licensed premises. People’s livelihoods and thousands of jobs are at stake.

It’s time for the SNP government to treat Edinburgh with fairness to maintain compliance and keep residents safe.

Ian Murray is Scottish Labour MP for Edinburgh South

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