MASK PROBE
COPS are assessing claims Nicola Sturgeon broke her own Covid laws after she was videoed not wearing a mask in a barbershop.
The First Minister visited Iconic Gents Hair in East Kilbride on Saturday while on the council election campaign trail - less than 48 hours before Scottish mask rules will finally be ditched.
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But while official pics from the event showed Ms Sturgeon covered up, another clip emerged on social media of the SNP leader in the hairdressers maskless - at a time when the legal virus curb was still in force.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We have received a complaint which is currently being assessed.”
The SNP claimed the lapse had only lasted for a "few seconds" after the First Minister was first invited into the barbershop.
But Ms Sturgeon has been urged to apologise to Scots over the incident - which came during the final weekend that mask laws are in in force.
The Nats supremo was accused of “blatant hypocrisy” at the hairdressers in South Lanarkshire where she was recorded mingling and joking with punters and staff without wearing a face covering.
The six-second online video from Saturday shows Ms Sturgeon - already inside the shop - lightly ruffling a young man’s hair while he sits in a barber chair, with Ms Sturgeon cheekily mimicking the sound of clippers.
The clip, shared on social media, doesn’t match official images from the event which show Ms Sturgeon covering up with a tartan face mask.
Today, Scots Tory shadow health secretary Dr Sandesh Gulhane hit out: “The video clearly shows Nicola Sturgeon isn’t practising what she preaches on face masks.
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“She’s happy virtue-signalling for official photos but behind closed doors it’s clear she doesn’t believe in her own rules - so why should anyone else?
“This is blatant hypocrisy from the First Minister who has now shown her true colours.
“The public, who have been under these legal Covid restrictions for over two years, deserve an apology for this rule break.”
It came after she earlier posted a video on her Twitter account of her shaving another man’s beard in the barbershop.
Alongside that clip - in which the Nats leader IS wearing her mask - she wrote: “I’ve done some surreal things on the campaign trail over my many years in politics - this (at Iconic Gents Hair in East Kilbride) has to be right up there with the best - and scariest!!
“For the record, it was all his idea!”
She then posted an image with the customer afterwards - with the FM still masked up - saying: “And here’s new look Tony - the finished article.”
Cops confirmed they’re looking into the maskless incident after receiving a formal complaint.
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It appears to be from Twitter user Jane Lax who posted in response to the new video: "I've had enough of this disdain and sheer arrogance of Nicola Sturgeon.
“Someone has to report her to Police Scotland and as the opposition parties aren't holding her to account, it will have to be little old me."
She shared a screenshot of her complaint form to Police Scotland, which read: "I would like to report Nicola Sturgeon for breaching the current Covid rules as per the video below... as per her own rules, masks are required to be worn in shop environments until midnight on 17/4/22.
"I feel that as Boris Johnson was held to account, the same standards of police investigation should be applied to the First Minister."
It follows Ms Sturgeon this week blasting the Prime Minister’s “law-breaking” in the Partygate scandal as she urged voters to “send a message” to the Tories in next month’s council elections.
Earlier on Saturday, she’d told how she had “confidence in the good sense and the responsibility” of Scots to continue masking up even after it becomes guidance rather than law.
It comes as Scotland’s mask mandate for public transport and indoor public places will be lifted at midnight after nearly two years of being enforced.
We revealed in December 2020 how Ms Sturgeon had broken her own mask laws by failing to cover up in a bar after a funeral in Edinburgh.
The FM apologised at the time and said she was “kicking herself” over the error.
She described it as "a stupid mistake", and said: "I'm really sorry."
An SNP spokesman said: "The First Minister was invited into the barbers during an outdoor visit on the street.
"Within a few seconds, she realised she hadn't put her mask back on and immediately put it on."
A Scottish Lib Dem spokesman said: “It’s incumbent on all politicians to set a good example. It looks like Nicola Sturgeon has lost track of what her own rules are.”
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Owners at Iconic Gents Hair said the event had been “a positive thing” and “spontaneous and fun”, adding: “Nicola was a great sport.”
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