Boris Johnson’s ‘Rule of six’ came into force today with the rules reportedly being finalised late on Sunday night.Why the delay? Well apparently time was needed to ensure that the rules could be modified to allow grouse shooting to take place. If we needed a sign of the power of grouse industry lobby and a clear indication of the priorities of the Westminster Government then surely this was it. The Prime Minister is known to be a keen shooter and has written about hunting saying that he has a “semi-sexual relation with the horse” and the “military-style pleasure” of moving as a unit. Hmm!

Colin Shedden, Scottish director of the British Association of Shooting and Conservation, said Scottish coronavirus rules had allowed grouse and pheasant shooting for some time and Westminster has “now caught up with where we are in Scotland.”

Alison Johnstone, the Scottish Green party’s health spokesperson, said having this type of exemption was ludicrous.“This cannot be allowed to happen in Scotland,” she said. “The tiny minority who derive pleasure from killing wildlife are not more important than the thousands who are being kept apart from seeing friends and family. 30 people should not be able to gather to shoot grouse when 30 people cannot attend a wake for a lost loved one. “The Scottish government need to urgently clarify the Scottish rules so that this doesn’t happen.”

You can ask the Scottish Government to clarify their position by emailing them at this address scottish.ministers@gov.scot