Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard has said there should be a “cross border” approach on a Coronavirus exit strategy.
Leonard questioned how “different rules" for ending lockdown in Scotland and England would impact on border communities.
He also stated his opposition to an early end to the heavy restrictions that has been in place for weeks.
Nicola Sturgeon will this week lay out the criteria that would need to be met for the covid-19 restrictions to be lifted.
Some Cabinet Ministers at Westminster, fearful of the effect lockdown is having on the economy, favour easing some constraints from next month.
The First Minister is more cautious and has said she does not see the economy and health as trade-offs.
Jason Leitch, Scotland’s national clinical director, also hinted at a separate approach recently: “Orkney looks quite different from Oxford Street. It’s important to do what applies in your context.”
Leonard, in an interview with the BBC, said any exit strategy should have “cross-party support” at Holyrood.
He said: “Party leaders last week asked the First Minister if we could get access to officials in the Scottish Government who are working on the exit strategy, and so far that hasn’t happened.”
“We don’t expect a detailed timetable because, to some extent, we are in uncharted territory, but we do expect cross-party agreement on the principles that will guide the exit strategy.”
He added: “We are strongly of the view that there needs to be a cross-border approach.
"The national clinical director said recently that Orkney is not the same as Oxford street, but that raises considerations about what the implication of a differentiated approach would be to the south of Scotland, to the border communities, if there were different rules on lockdown operating in Dumfries and Galloway compared to Cumbria.”
