© Andy Buchanan / Pool via Reuters
"It is with a heavy heart that I resign as Chief Medical Officer," she said in a brief statement, admitting that a "justifiable focus" on her behaviour "risked becoming a distraction" from hugely important task of getting the country through the coronavirus crisis.
I am deeply sorry for my actions and the mistakes I have made.Dr Catherine Calderwood was publicly imploring Scots to adhere to the 'stay at home' measures, while privately she was travelling to the east coast of Scotland to visit her second home at weekends. She was photographed with her family near a coastal retreat in Earlsferry and the images were published in The Scottish Sun late on Saturday.
The revelations prompted the police to visit Dr Calderwood's home and issue her with a warning that the "legal instructions on not leaving your home without a reasonable excuse apply to everyone."
The furore initially forced Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to exclude Dr Calderwood from daily media briefings, but following a further conversation the medic announced her resignation.
Comment: It's not just the Scottish Health Minister. Plenty of other authority figures are acting as thought rules don't apply to them. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was spotted working at out the Supreme Court's gym even though her personal trainer advised her not to. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was scolded on Twitter for also going to the gym. Philippines senator Koko Pimentel was hounded online for going to a hospital on the same evening that he test positive for COVID-19. Rules for thee, not for me!
When you see someone in authority telling you that engaging in certain behavior will endanger all our lives and then you see that same person engaging in that behavior, it's rational to assume that they don't believe their own propaganda.