Political parties cancel events and conferences due to coronavirus

The SNP, Scottish Conservatives and the Scottish Greens cancelled all large events until June because of the spread of COVID-19

Scottish political parties are cancelling conferences and events because of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

The SNP as well as the Scottish Conservatives and the Scottish Greens told members that events scheduled to take place in March, April, May and June are postponed.

The Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw announced that his party would be cancelling its annual conference, which was to be held in May.

Meanwhile the SNP told members that its spring conference, which had been scheduled to take place in Aviemore in June, will be postponed “for the foreseeable future”

And the Scottish Greens’ conference in Kirckaldy, which was due to be held at the end of March, was also cancelled on Thursday.

Various other SNP events through April, May and June have been cancelled, including some at short notice.

An SNP spokesperson said: “Unfortunately, this event along with all other large SNP events up until the end of June have now been postponed as a result of the spread of Covid-19 in Scotland.”

The Scottish Conservatives annual conference was due to take place on Friday 15th and Saturday 16th May 2020 at the Perth Concert Hall.

Carlaw said: “It’s become clear we have no option but to postpone the party conference that was planned for May.

“The same goes for a party convention that was due to go ahead later in March.

“The wellbeing of our staff, party members and others who would have attended conference has to be paramount.

“We’re also aware that such a large scale event involving senior government ministers also requires the presence of emergency services, and that’s not what they need to be doing while this pandemic unfolds. 

“The conference will take place at some point, and one option we’re considering is to extend a planned one day event due to go ahead in the autumn.

“We’ll be providing plenty of notice about that as and when the final decision is made.” 

The Scottish Liberal Democrats spring conference, due to take place on the 22-24 May has not yet been cancelled. 

An SNP MP has also announced that she has decided to self-isolate after presenting with symptoms of the coronavirus.

Dr Lisa Cameron announced on social media that she had made the decision after consulting NHS out of hours.

She said: “Friday/ Saturday Surgeries Cancelled: Apologies for such short notice but after two NHS consultations tonight the out of hours doctor has confirmed I must self-isolate for one week.  Hope to be feeling better soon. Thanks to all @NHSScotland for everything you do.”

There have been 85 confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland as of 13 March. One person has died.