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Scotland's plan out of lockdown will see the hospitality sector, hairdressers and shopping centres fully open by mid-July.
Prof Pennington said the decision to reduce the distance is a political one Image caption: Prof Pennington said the decision to reduce the distance is a political one

The decision over the two-metre social distancing rule in Scotland is one of "personality and politics", a scientist has claimed.

Prof Hugh Pennington said the decision to reduce the distance is a political one, given how new Covid-19 is and the fact advice being given to both administrations will be "largely the same".

Writing in the Scottish Daily Mail , Prof Pennington said should there be a localised outbreak - in a place such as a bar - when the rule is relaxed then it could simply be shut down and the rest of the population will not be impacted.

The first minister has said she has asked her scientific advisers to look into reducing the amount of social distancing in certain measures, with a report expected by 2 July.

Prof Pennington said there is "every reason" Scotland should also reduce the social distancing rule.

He wrote: "But in my view there is absolutely no need for (Nicola Sturgeon's) caution.

"There is no reason we should not be following England and reducing the social distancing limit to one metre and every reason we should be in order to get the economy and education system going again.

"If we do see a localised outbreak of Covid, for example if there is an outbreak linked to a particularly busy pub, we can step in and close it down again.

"The whole country does not need to go back into lockdown."

He added: "What we are seeing now is not about the science, it's about the personality and the politics."