FM Nicola Sturgeon now faces the toughest decision of her political career after West Minister extended the UK wide furlough scheme until December 2nd after England enters full lockdown on Thursday.
Nicola Sturgeon now faces a dilemma in Scotland after the UK treasury confirmed that the furlough scheme extension will only be valid until 2nd December including in Scotland.
Scotland's new 5 tier system aimed at helping to reduce the spread of the virus only started today at 6AM but already just 7 hours in FM Nicola Sturgeon is actively considering full lockdown for Scotland, but why?
The furlough scheme is a massive help for all devolved governments, it means businesses can close during a lockdown with all employees still receiving 80% of the wages paid for by the UK government saving thousands of jobs and businesses.
If furlough isn't available at a later date when Scotland needs it for example if the new 5 tier system wasn't to work in the way expected then the economical impact on Scotland could be massive resulting in thousands of job losses and businesses closing.
Nicola also made it clear today that she knows locking down Scotland now isn't a popular choice but she could be left with no choice to take advantage of the furlough scheme while it remains available.
FM Nicola Sturgeon did say that if the UK government makes the furlough scheme available at anytime when it's needed then she will give time to see if the new tier system works on controlling the virus provided everyone follows the rules set out in each tier.
Nicola Sturgeon will no doubt make a decision in the next few days but ultimately the ball lies in the UK governments court on what future help would be available for Scotland if Nicola chooses not to lock Scotland down while the current furlough extension scheme is available.
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