Scotland’s chief medical officer, Catherine Calderwood, has been urged to resign after she was photographed with her family visiting her second home in Fife having issued advice to avoid travel.
Calderwood was forced to apologise after being pictured on Saturday with her family taking a walk with their dog through the East Neuk, a picturesque area of Fife on the Firth of Forth, about 45 miles from her main home in Edinburgh. She had previously told the public: “To help save lives, stay at home.”
Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman, Monica Lennon, said that Calderwood’s position was untenable. She said her “actions have undermined Scotland’s pandemic response and her own credibility. Unfortunately, it means she cannot and should not continue in her role.”
That call was echoed by the Liberal Democrats, with Willie Rennie, the Scottish party leader and a local MSP, saying it seemed impossible for Calderwood to remain in her post because she had clearly broken her own instructions.
Rennie and Wendy Chamberlain, the Lib Dem MSP for North East Fife and a former police officer, said government officials such as Calderwood had to command public confidence at a time of crisis.
“If we are going to get through this pandemic we need medical leaders who everyone can follow. It is with great regret that we say that the chief medical officer will need to go,” they said.
In a statement, Calderwood apologised and acknowledged that the trip had been an error of judgment, but refused to resign. She said she had a job to do advising ministers on tackling the virus and supporting the medical profession.
“While there are reasons for what I did, they do not justify it and they were not legitimate reasons to be out of my home. While I and my family followed the guidance on social distancing at all times, I understand that I did not follow the advice I am giving to others, and I am truly sorry for that,” she said.
“I know how important this advice is and I do not want my mistake to distract from that, [and] having spoken with the first minister this morning I will continue to focus entirely on that job.”
Calderwood issued a public information film last week where she urged people to avoid all unnecessary travel. In the Scottish government video, she said: “This is a vital update about coronavirus. To help save lives, stay at home. Anyone can spread coronavirus. Only go out when absolutely necessary for food, medicine, work or exercise… Stay home. Protect Scotland’s NHS and save lives.”
Police and politicians include Matt Hancock, the UK health secretary, have warned people not to needlessly visit parks or recreation areas to sunbathe or have outings over the Easter period.
Rennie said residents in Earlsferry, the village where Calderwood has a second home, were irate that large numbers of visitors had defied the lockdown order by going to their holiday homes or turning up for walks.
Rennie and Chamberlain said tensions were running high in the area. “Local people are irate that holidaymakers and second home owners have ignored the warnings from the chief medical officer to stay at home. The main street was described as being like a motorway and many second homes are full up,” they said.
“There is real concern that with a swollen population and a virus sweeping through the local health services will just not cope.”
The Scottish government said on Saturday that Calderwood had been checking the property was secure. “Since this start of this epidemic, the CMO has been working seven days a week preparing Scotland’s response,” a spokesman said.
“She took the opportunity this weekend to check on a family home in Fife as she knows she will not be back again until the crisis is over. She stayed overnight before returning to Edinburgh. In line with guidance she stayed within her own household group and observed social distancing with anyone she was in passing in the village.”
Last Thursday Calderwood tweeted a photograph of her family clapping NHS workers outside their main home in Edinburgh, about two and a half miles from St Andrew’s House, the Scottish government headquarters where she and Nicola Sturgeon deliver their daily briefings on the pandemic.
Scottish National party politicians including Ian Blackford, the party’s Westminster leader and a Highlands MP, have called for legal powers to be used to stop second home owners or visitors from travelling to rural areas during the lockdown.
“With Easter almost upon us it is worth reminding everyone of the emergency powers that restrict non-essential travel,” Blackford said last week. “That means no tourists should be coming to the Highlands and Islands. If anyone owns a second or holiday home, they should not be using the Highlands to self-isolate and powers exist and must be used to stop this.”
