SCOTS TV historian Neil Oliver has vowed to "ignore" any further Covid lockdowns in Scotland.
The archaeologist, author, TV presenter and former National Trust for Scotland president said that if further restrictions were imposed, he will "be paying no attention to that".
The Renfrewshire-born 54-year-old, speaking on his GB News slot, also told viewers that he believes the earlier lockdowns were not about health, instead a "deliberate attempt" to stop people meeting - therefore keeping the public feeling "helpless and alone".
Yesterday, Nicola Sturgeon looked to ease tensions surrounding any incoming restrictions, telling MSPs she is “even more confident” a recent spike in Covid cases is beginning to subside.
The First Minister said cases reduced by 31% in the week to September 18, after previously having risen by 80% at the end of last month.
'I won't be locked down again... my door will be open to my friends, my family, my neighbours.'
— GB News (@GBNEWS) September 20, 2021
GB News presenter Neil Oliver says 'he will be paying no attention' to any future lockdown. pic.twitter.com/Ayg5HMcuwZ
“In any event, I am very grateful to everyone – organisations, businesses and individuals – who has taken extra care in recent weeks to try to halt and then reverse the spike in cases,” the First Minister said.
“It seems that these efforts are making a significant difference.
“Of course, despite this welcome improvement, the position does continue to be fragile"
Despite that, Mr Oliver, who lives in Stirling, used his slot on GB News to discuss his response to future restrictions.
He said: "I just intend to set aside, to ignore, any diktats that come down.
"I won’t be locked down again, my door will be open to my friends, my family, my neighbours, to the people that I love and I know that I’m welcome in the homes of friends and family all over the country.
"If the government get to the point where they do think they can lock us down and lock me down, well I’ll be paying no attention to that.
"I will be meeting with the people that I love, they will be coming to me, and I think that’s important."
Discussing his idea of the real "objectives" of lockdown, Mr Oliver added: "I think the government, the authorities, their scientific advisors, I believe absolutely 100% that the intention was not about health, not for the longest time.
"It was a deliberate attempt, a deliberate project, to keep us apart and stop us meeting, to stop us getting into pubs and restaurants and all the places where people meet and talk and reassure one-another.
"I think the objective was to keep us separate from one another, so we felt helpless and alone. I won’t play that game anymore… I am going to be at home to my people and they will make me at home to them."
READ MORE: Neil Oliver interview: 'I'm in disbelief at the shambles Scotland has become'
His views sparked a mixed response on social media.
One Twitter user wrote: "So then let's hope you're vaccinated against COVID-19, else you may become a super spreader".
Another added: "How gratifying it must be to have a media platform for such self-centred selfishness, from which to broadcast such disregard for the welfare and well-being of others."
And a third wrote: "And that is why we will end up with another lockdown after that. And another. And another.
"How have the anti-vax anti-lockdown crowd not realised by now that what they advocate actually increases and elongates it’s likelihood an effects?"
However, some took to Mr Oliver's defence - adding they intend to follow suit.
One said: "100% agree. I point blank refuse to go through with any future lockdowns."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel