Coronavirus in Scotland - Restrictions 'for rest of year' - BBC News
Nicola Sturgeon says lifting lockdown is not a "flick of the switch moment" - measures need to be eased in a phased and careful manner.
Perhaps it is the miasma of partisan politics. Perhaps it is scrutiny from the wicked media. Perhaps it is instinctive.

Whatever the cause, political leaders generally like to exude certainty. They will say: "I believe I have been completely clear about this" Or: "Let me assure the House……"

By contrast, many ministers of my acquaintance have been in an honourable lather of uncertainty much of the time. That is because the decisions confronting them are tough, really tough.

But they pretend otherwise. They fear to let it seem that they are havering or dovering, to use two fine Scots words.

Nicola Sturgeon has, to a large extent, abandoned the pretence. In all her remarkable pronouncements during this quite remarkable period, she has constantly stressed that she may have to change tack, that she is open to other ideas.

That she is, in short, uncertain. Indeed, she used the word "uncertainty" repeatedly today as she set out her framework for a possible exit strategy.

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