London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Covid in Scotland: Family's plea to allow dying father to see expat daughter

Covid in Scotland: Family's plea to allow dying father to see expat daughter

The family of a cancer patient with days to live have pleaded that his his expat daughter be allowed to fly home to Scotland immediately to say goodbye.

Iain Soutar, from Milngavie, is receiving palliative care after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

His Dubai-based daughter Laura is quarantining in Majorca after the Scottish government refused to exempt her from self-isolating in Scotland.

The family fear her return could be too late to give her dad "a final hug".

Laura is not due to arrive in Scotland until Tuesday next week and says the delay has been unbearable.

Speaking from her Majorca hotel room, she said: "I just want to be home with my dad, spending these last days, weeks, with him."

Laura Soutar will not be allowed to fly back to Scotland until next week

Iain's other daughter Rebecca McCarron added: "We feel like we are counting down until Laura comes home, but we are also counting down the days my dad's got left with us.

"My dad wants my sister home. My dad is holding on for my sister. He has said that himself, and told Laura he will be here when she comes back and that's all we can hope for at the moment."

The United Arab Emirates has been designated by the Scottish and UK governments as a red list country for international travel.

It means anyone returning - regardless of their vaccination status - must self-isolate for 10 days in a government-approved quarantine hotel.

Laura Soutar hoped the government would allow her to speed up the process by flying in via the Balearic Islands, which are currently on the green list.

Next Monday, Majorca along with neighbouring Menorca and Ibiza will be moved on to the amber list.

From the same date, fully-vaccinated adults and under-18s in Scotland will no longer have to self-isolate after visiting amber-list countries.

Laura on a family holiday with her father Iain and mother Merlyn

However, despite repeated appeals for an exemption on compassionate grounds, the family feel they have been let down by the "cruel" international quarantine system.

Scotland's national clinical director, Prof Jason Leitch, said visits to see relatives receiving end-of-life care were exempt from travel restrictions - but only if self-isolation protocols have been safely completed.

He said: "This is a dreadful story and my heart goes out to the family.

"I'm afraid the fundamental restrictions still apply though. An individual coming from an amber or a red country is a higher risk of virus, That, I'm afraid, is a fact."

Laura's sister Rebecca has urged the government to do more the help families in the same situation.

'Horrendous time'


She said: "We're suffering in having to deal with this every single day. There needs to be some leeway for families and people in this situation trying to get home to see loved ones.

"We have been told my dad has just days and it's adding extra stress on to an already horrendous time.

"We need this family time. We are such a close family, the four of us, and we just need her back.

"A few days would make so much of a difference to us, to have those moments that we can with each other."

Rebecca McCarron said there should be more compassion shown to families

Rebecca said the sight of thousands of fans being allowed into the country for events like the recent Euro 2020 football championships was particularly galling.

She said "All these people flying in from all over the globe to sit side by side and watch sporting events, when all we want is my sister home.

"My dad wants his daughter home so that we can have a hug and say goodbye."

'High threshold'


The Scottish government said it sympathised with the Soutars, but that the isolation rules had to be strict "to reduce the risk of importation of new strains of the virus".

An official letter to the family said: "In assessing exemptions, we are very mindful that for many people going into managed quarantine will be challenging.

"We are also mindful that these measures have been introduced to reduce the risk of importation of new strains of the virus and that high levels of exemptions risk undermining the effectiveness of these measures."

It adds: "Our view therefore is that we need to apply a high threshold of what would constitute compassionate circumstances given the reference to 'exceptional' in the regulations.

"We have considered all the circumstances presented in your daughter's case and we cannot agree to an exemption."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×