Scottish police to use emergency powers to shut pubs

Police in Scotland have been granted emergency powers to shut “reckless” pubs that continue to defy government calls to shut their doors.

The deputy chief constable for Police Scotland, Malcolm Graham, said there had been “exceptionally high levels of compliance” from on-trade operators since Friday when both UK prime minister Boris Johnson and Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, called for bars, pubs and restaurants across the country to close to help halt the spread of Covid-19.

According to The Times, however, Graham said he was, “aware that a small number of public houses are intent on defying this instruction and have indicated that they will remain open until legally ordered to close”.

He called such landlords “reckless” and said they were endangering not only their customers but also wider communities “where both the health and safety of the nation is at stake”.

Following legal advice, he continued, Police Scotland are now authorised to use emergency powers to force non-compliant pubs to close and any that continue to flout the advice will be reported to their relevant licensing board.

Sturgeon backed up Police Scotland’s stance, saying that social distancing and self-isolation were not “optional”.