The UK lock-down was put into effect on 23rd March.
In the Telegraph, yesterday and repeated widely by opposition politicians and journalists, including BBC Reporting Scotland:
More than 2,000 coronavirus deaths could have been prevented if Scotland had locked down two weeks earlier [9th March], according to a study published as Nicola Sturgeon urged people to ignore Boris Johnson’s exit plan. A team of epidemiological scientists at Edinburgh University estimated that around four out of five deaths could have been stopped with earlier action, based on the behaviour of the Scottish population.
The scientists and the media missed something important. From reader indyref2soon:
The Coronavirus Act, which allowed Scottish Ministers to take action was only passed into law on 25th March. Lockdown actions happened a few days in advance [23rd] of clearing the final, House of Lords, hurdle. Various folk on Twitter, including me, have pointed this out.This is the relevant section for Scotland:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2020/7/schedule/19/enacted?view=interweave
Another reader and contributor, stewartb, then hammered the nail home with this:
“The recently adopted Coronavirus Act 2020 DOES NOT CONFER NEW POWERS on UK and Welsh ministers to impose a lockdown on the people of England and Wales. It DOES CONFER such powers on Northern Ireland (specifically, the Northern Ireland Department of Health) in Schedule 18; and on Scottish ministers in Schedule 19. NEITHER NORTHERN IRELAND NOR SCOTLAND HAD THEM PREVIOUSLY.” (my emphasis)
So according to this article, the SG did NOT possess the same powers as Westminster already possessed for England and Wales to allow it to establish a lockdown such as the one we have experienced. The SG and NI governments were dependent on new powers being granted to them by Westminster.
https://ukconstitutionallaw.org/2020/04/01/jeff-king-the-lockdown-is-lawful/
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Thanks for this. I will give the articles and the legislation a closer look when I am not as sleepy as I am now!
It would seem that the SG, by this Act, now has the power to ‘lockdown’.Has anyone checked if the Act has a ‘sunset’ clause?
But, even if it had the power, it does not have the financial power, at present, to offer the kind of support that the Chancellor provided.
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Indeed!
Being given LEGAL powers from Westminster to enact a lockdown is not the same as having the necessary FINANCING powers, including the borrowing facility, to be able to provide the support required as a consequence of lockdown.
The notion that the Tory government would have enabled and financed actions such as the furlough scheme for Scotland, Wales and/or NI in advance of need in England is delusional!
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I am in awe of this revelation. I wouldn’t have known where to find the information, but then again, I’m not a “professional ” ” journalist “.
But wait, “professional journalists ” and “researchers” appear not to have known where to have looked for it either. You might have thought when putting out a negative story on someone/something you wouldn’t want to have readily available information to bite you on the arse.
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Some pretty smart folk read this blog!
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Get this sent to The National!
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Thank you for this. It’s been a huge question for me as a general supporter of the Scottish Government to know what powers were available via the Public Health etc. (Scotland) Act 2008. From what I could make of it, that act only conveys the power to lockdown individuals and not the whole country. Would that be an accurate assessment of the situation prior to the Coronavirus Act 2020 being brought into law? Like I say, I’m generally supportive of the Scottish Government, but I’m not prepared to forgive any sort of negligence or misconduct which led to the death of so many people so we need absolute clarity on this.
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I don’t wish to do your research for you Tom: the terms of the Act your refer to are available for examination.
However, as a short cut to identifying key issues you may find the details of a Legislative Consent Motion laid before the Scottish Parliament helpful: this relates to the necessary consent of the Holyrood Parliament to the purpose and content of the Westminster government’s emergency Coronavirus Act.
See: https://sp-bpr-en-prod-cdnep.azureedge.net/published/HS/2020/3/24/Legislative-Consent-Memorandum-on-the-Coronavirus-Bill–LCM–S5-36-/HSS052020R3.pdfpublished on 24 March 2020
As to other comments you make, I suspect that few would condone ‘misconduct’ or (deliberate, willful) ‘negligence’ leading to even one unnecessary death. So I suggest this moral high ground is a crowded space! But I will not be impugning someone/anyone on such serious issues by ‘implication’; I will hopefully remain mindful of the ease of using hindsight; I will examine evidence on decision-making of more than only the Scottish Government; and I will include as best I can, the context in which decisions HAD to be made..
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This is a pisspoor excuse for letting people die.
If applied through history then we would never have had most of Nuremberg trials they were following orsers
No Vite’s for women
Still have slavery
Good god. Hiding behind the law is craven and cowardly.
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The Scottish government is trying yo do a job with their hands tied behind their back. Once they are Independent then you can judge them.
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Reblogged this on Ramblings of a 50+ Female.
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Pushing 10 000 visits for this report.
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To be honest, surely the legal power are by the by: the far more cogent reason why the Scottish Government couldn’t have done it is because, in order to achieve it, you need a f*ck-ton of money to pay furloughed workers and fund all the other support schemes. That requires borrowing on a massive scale. You see where I’m going with this… Of course, Scotland could always have asked nicely. Now, just how do we think that might have gone?
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Agreed. Hope you didn’t miss this earlier post.
“Being given LEGAL powers from Westminster to enact a lockdown is not the same as having the necessary FINANCING powers, including the borrowing facility, to be able to provide the support required as a consequence of lockdown.
The notion that the Tory government would have enabled and financed actions such as the furlough scheme for Scotland, Wales and/or NI in advance of need in England is delusional!”
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Of course, but let’s at least ask the question of the Scottish Government. Did they feel it was necessary to lockdown earlier and make representations to Westminster, and if so, what was the official response?
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There are lots of questions on various issues to various parties that will no doubt be put by some or many – in good time.
On timing of lockdown are you aware of this opinion? It was reported in the The Scotsman on 1 April which is interesting given the charges against the SG aired by Disclosure Scotland.
Headline: ‘’Early lockdown means Scottish death rate will be lower: Scotland will have a lower death rate from coronavirus than the rest of the UK due to lockdown being introduced at an earlier stage of the country’s ‘epidemic curve’ experts have said.’
This is based on the view at the time of Professor Mark Woolhouse, chair of infectious disease epidemiology at Edinburgh University’s Deanery of Population Health Sciences. He noted that the UK-wide lockdown had been established when the spread of the virus in London was already about a week ahead of the epidemic in Scotland.
Source: https://www.scotsman.com/health/coronavirus/early-lockdown-means-scottish-death-rate-will-be-lower-2524987
So yes some now wish that the SG had entered lockdown earlier than ‘early’!
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Yes, and I’m also aware that the current rate of death per capita in Scotland is significantly higher than the UK figure, so it didn’t pan out like that, or at least not according to the data were being given. If you use the Financial Times estimates, then Scotland is lower.
Thanks for all the work you’ve done on this folks, it’s getting to the root of some key issues.
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‘Yes, and I’m also aware that the current rate of death per capita in Scotland is significantly higher than the UK figure.’
Not sure how you make that out.
Today:
England 536 deaths per million
UK 507 deaths per million
Scotland 377 deaths per million
https://www.travellingtabby.com/scotland-coronavirus-tracker/
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I’m using the NRS figure, deaths in all settings announced on a Wednesday from the previous Sunday. Scotland is currently sitting at 616 deaths per million polulation. Your figure doesn’t count institution deaths, deaths at home or deaths in care homes. You are missing 1311 deaths.
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