FM hints at tougher restrictions if financial support is time-limited

The first minister has hinted that Scotland could face tougher restrictions in the coming weeks - if the furlough scheme is only available for a limited period.

The job retention initiative has been extended by the UK Government until December 2 - to cover the period of the lockdown being imposed on England from Thursday.

Nicola Sturgeon says at this stage, the indication from Westminster is that the scheme will only run until that point, and would not be available to Scotland if a lockdown had to be imposed here at a later date.

At her daily briefing, she said there were "encouraging signs" that existing restrictions are helping to reduce the spread of the virus.

But she continued: "The impact is, at this stage, still quite gradual and we can't yet be sure that it will be sustained or that it will go as far as we need it to go.

"The position - as it is in so many countries across the world - remains very fragile, and obviously we remain concerned about the rise in hospital and intensive care admissions.

"So it would be wrong to say we have no concerns about the next few weeks, clearly that would not be correct. We still face a lot of uncertainty as all countries do.

"That's why I made clear last week when I set out the levels that would apply initially, that we might yet have to go further - and that we can't rule out, and shouldn't rule out, a move to level four for all or parts of the country.

"And while that decision would never be easy, there is no doubt that the availability of a more extensive furlough scheme - of the kind that the prime minister announced on Saturday - would make it slightly less difficult, because workers would have more of their wages paid.

"So the decision we have to weigh up in the coming days is this one: should we take the opportunity of more generous financial support to step harder on the brakes now, to try to drive infection rates down faster and more firmly?

"The potential benefit of that would be suppressing the virus further and faster, at a time when financial support is available, and possibly - I don't want to overstate this - but possibly opening up a bit more breathing space over the Christmas period."

She says that ideally, a decision would not be made before the planned review of restrictions next Tuesday.

But the first minister says that if the Treasury confirms the furlough scheme will not extend beyond December 2, a decision may have to be made sooner, so that there is not a delay in any restrictions being imposed.