Highlands and Islands MSP Donald Cameron has said that the Scottish Government should focus on jobs and livelihoods as Scotland emerges from Covid restrictions.

The MSP urged ministers to plan for a return to normality as the Scottish Conservatives published a Covid recovery roadmap which calls for blanket Covid measures - such as mandatory facemasks in classrooms and vaccine passports - to be progressively dropped.

Mr Cameron said: “The Highlands and Islands have taken a hammering from the pandemic as it is so dependent on the tourism and hospitality sector, which has taken the brunt of so many of the measures used to tackle Covid.

“The Scottish Conservatives have produced a roadmap which provides a blueprint for living with Covid which would allow us to focus on building back our economy.

“The measures proposed are balanced and sensible and a refreshing contrast with the SNP’s preoccupation with placing the current temporary emergency powers on a permanent footing.”