Nicola Sturgeon's face-mask lapse pales into insignificance compared to Dominic Cummings' lockdown jaunt – Steve Cardownie

Nicola Sturgeon’s error in forgetting to re-affix her mask as she turned to speak to some people at a wake has attracted no shortage of criticism, especially from some quarters who would do well to remember the proverb “People who live in glass houses should not throw stones”.
Nicola Sturgeon has apologised after she was pictured speaking to people at the Stable Bar and Restaurant in Mortonhall without a face mask (Picture: Andy Buchanan/pool/Getty Images)Nicola Sturgeon has apologised after she was pictured speaking to people at the Stable Bar and Restaurant in Mortonhall without a face mask (Picture: Andy Buchanan/pool/Getty Images)
Nicola Sturgeon has apologised after she was pictured speaking to people at the Stable Bar and Restaurant in Mortonhall without a face mask (Picture: Andy Buchanan/pool/Getty Images)

It beggars belief that some members of the Tory Party in particular have sought to gain political advantage from what was an innocent mistake – and one which she has profusely apologised for.

This from the party that shielded Boris Johnson’s special adviser Dominic Cummings when, during the previous lockdown, he jumped in his car and made a 267-mile trip from London to Durham and while he was there drove a further 30 miles to Bernard Castle “to test his eyesight”.

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Notwithstanding the utter contempt he displayed in believing that people were so stupid that they would swallow such nonsense, his subsequent refusal to resign or even apologise summed up his elitist attitude.

The First Minister’s transgression pales into insignificance in comparison to Cummings’ flagrant disregard for his own government’s Covid-19 rules.

It has now been reported that a random customer took the offending snap and the owner of The Stable Bar and Restaurant has gone on record to praise Sturgeon’s interaction with staff and customers, saying that she broke the rule "for a few seconds” when she was leaving and turned back to say hello to three customers.

As a supporter of independence, he is obviously miffed that he has been associated with this storm in a teacup and is concerned that his business might suffer as a result which, hopefully, it won’t.

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