The majority of Scotland’s front pages deal with the fallout from Wednesday’s announcement that vaccine certificates are to be introduced for entry to nightclubs and large events. The Scotsman reports that hospitality industry leaders and football’s governing body have criticised the plan.
The i newspaper frames it as the unvaccinated being banned from events with large numbers of people in close contact. It reports that under the scheme, all adults will have to show proof that they have been double jabbed, by downloading a QR code to their phone. The scheme will be voted on by MSPs next week.
“Jab club fury” screams the Metro as it claims “dismay” from nightclub owners at the proposals. It also says that with people at events of over 10,000 people having to show vaccination status, the scheme would have “consequences” for football. The Lib Dems are quoted as calling the plan “illiberal”.
The Scottish Daily Mail explains the system in black and white: “No vaccine passport, no entry”. The lead story says the announcement came amid growing concern about the number of young people who have still not taken up the offer of a vaccine. It also reports the first minister’s comments on surging infection rates that it is not impossible for Scotland to see 10,000 new cases a day.
The lead in The Times is on the same proposals and the paper claims the vaccine passport plan is designed to put pressure on young people to take the jab. The paper says the system follows a similar one introduced by President Macron in France in July which saw nearly six million appointments booked in a fortnight.
The Herald highlights the business reaction and also reports on Nicola Sturgeon’s warnings about soaring infections. The first minister said the NHS would come under “even more severe pressure” if the recent surge continues. She said the next few days would prove crucial in assessing whether restrictions could have to be reintroduced and added that the increase in cases has been “extremely concerning”.
The Scottish Daily Express claims the vaccine passport decision is a “U-turn” after Deputy First Minister John Swinney earlier criticised Boris Johnson’s similar plan.
The Daily Telegraph leads with an the announcement that up to 500,000 people who are most vulnerable to Covid will be offered a third jab. It comes after experts warned two doses are unlikely to have worked for the most severely immunosuppressed. The paper says the government’s vaccination advisory group is gathering more evidence before it decides whether the wider population should be given an extra dose, so there will “no mass rollout yet”.
An NHS Lothian doctor tells the Edinburgh Evening News that a “toxic trio” of viruses at Edinburgh’s Sick Kids hospital could put the hospital at breaking point before winter. Paediatrician Thomas Christie Williams warned “a toxic triad of RSV, rhinovirus and SARS-CoV-2 (Covid) is starting to stretch the Scottish hospital I work in to its limits”.
Campaigners tell The National that the UK government is “misleading” the public over claims it has no power over the decision to approve or reject the Cambo oil field. Friends of the Earth (FoE) Scotland and campaign group Uplift say ministers at the department for business, energy and industrial strategy do have the ability to stop the “new and damaging fossil fuel development”.
Scotland is facing a “perfect storm” of food shortages for Christmas due to Brexit and Covid, according to the P&J. It reports that supply chain problems could peak at the festive period. MSPs were told of the looming fragile situation on Thursday, according to the paper.
Politicians in Perthshire have expressed fears a new timetable involving slower train journeys to Perth from Edinburgh will hit visitor numbers to the Stone of Destiny attraction at the Perth City Hall museum which is due to reopen in 2024. The Courier leads with this in its Thursday edition.
Dundee’s Evening telegraph reports that a warrant has been issued for the arrest of a manager accused of embezzling more than £60,000 from the city’s Dr Noodles food bar. It claims Jade Gibson had failed to turn up during 17 callings of her case at Dundee Sheriff Court.
Another court story makes the front of the Evening Express. A man who secretly raided his girlfriend’s bank account and made off with more than £15,000 of her inheritance will spend the next 12 years paying her back. Jordan Edwards has been ordered to pay his victim £100 a month for the next 147 months – taking him up to 2033.
A £20,000 reward for the return of a gym owner’s son is the top story in the Daily Record. The paper reports that Craig Windsor has offered the bounty after claiming his son was abducted and taken to Romania by his estranged wife.
Ofcom’s judgement on a slew of complaints about TV presenter Piers Morgan’s comments on the Duchess of Sussex’s Oprah interview is the front page story in the Scottish Sun. The regulator favoured the former GMB host, who then said that he would “not be silenced” by “the queen of woke”.
And the Daily Star of Scotland notes that Mr Morgan may now be “even more insufferable” after his “freedom of speech victory”. The paper jokes: “Last night he was available for lots of comment.” The paper continues its practice of blacking out the Duke and Duchess to protect their identities.
