Nicola Sturgeon 'longs to hug her parents after lockdown'

Nicola Sturgeon has said the first thing she wants to do once the Covid-19 lockdown is lifted is to hug her parents.

The First Minister sounded emotional as she shared how much she was looking forward to seeing her relatives in person again.

She also insisted the coronavirus pandemic could bring perspective to the people of Scotland when social distancing restrictions are eventually lifted.

Sturgeon was speaking in an hour-long interview with Ewen Cameron in an interview broadcast on Radio Clyde and other Bauer Media stations across Scotland.

She said: “Like most people, I’m trying to keep in touch with my family over FaceTime and Skype, whereas previously we would’ve phoned each other because we could go and see each other.”

“I’m doing all these things as well. But giving my mum and dad a hug, and hug my niece and go and wish my nephew a proper happy birthday, see my mother-in-law who’s in a particularly vulnerable position…

“All these things, just like everybody else, I really look forward to do – you’re going to make me emotional now.”

‘If we keep pulling together and looking out for each other and doing the right things then, without trying to put a silver lining on a really big cloud – we might just come out of this with a renewed sense of what really matters in life.’
Nicola Sturgeon

She expressed hope society could take positive things from the experience of the outbreak.

She said: “I don’t want to get too trite and cliched here, because it’s easy to do that, but it’s never been truer that we’re actually all in this together.

“If we keep pulling together and looking out for each other and doing the right things then, without trying to put a silver lining on a really big cloud – because it is a big cloud – we might just come out of this with a renewed sense of what really matters in life.

“Those human connections and making sure that we think about them and remember to value each other.

“If that happens then maybe something good will come out of it all.”

The First Minister also told Scots not to be overly confident about the death rate in Scotland being lower than in England, following comments made by experts.

She said: “Let’s not lull ourselves into a false sense of security.

“Hopefully what we have done and the stage we’ve done it will mean that our peak will be lower, but we don’t know that for sure yet.”

She also said she does not think border patrols with England will be necessary.

In terms of eventually lifting the lockdown and returning to normality, the First Minister said that “in all likelihood, it would be a phased approach”.

But she stressed that she could not say so categorically at this stage as there is not enough data or evidence to base such judgments on.