Nicola Sturgeon gives update on Scottish government's Christmas hopes

She said: "I hope with everything I have got that I will be standing here saying it’s more normal than it is right now, and that there will be some greater ability to see family and friends and loved ones.

"We have to make these judgements in terms of the detail of them, closer to the time and based on as much overall information, evidence and data about risk as we can.”

Responding to calls for a so-called ‘Christmas armistice’ of regulations for families to be allowed to meet over the holidays, Ms Sturgeon said she did not want to risk more lives for the sake of family reunions.

The First Minister said: "The virus is not an enemy of that nature. I can’t unfortunately go out here and get the virus on the phone and get the virus around the table and say can you have a ceasefire for Christmas.

"What i don’t want to be doing is … standing here in January or February, talking about did we allow more deaths to happen because we didn’t put enough safeguards in to the advice we gave people for Christmas.

“We are going to have more chance of doing more of that if we all dig in and stick with it right now.”

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