Nicola Sturgeon has defended her handling of the coronavirus crisis against figures showing the death rate in Scotland and in Scottish care homes is higher than other parts of the UK.

The First Minister said: “I had done everything, I will continue to do everything I can to try to control the virus to keep it as low as possible, to take the tough decisions in order to achieve that and to try to take the people of Scotland along in these difficult steps with me as far as I possibly can.”

Sturgeon was challenged by the BBC’s Andrew Marr on weeks of official statistics suggesting that proportionately more people have been dying of coronavirus in Scotland than in England.

In one of the toughest tv interviews she has faced this year, the First Minister was asked why Scotland had the “third worst record of deaths from coronavirus of any country in Europe?”

Marr presented four consecutive weeks of statistics showing the number of deaths per million from covid 19 has been higher in Scotland than in England.

The veteran journalist said: “The Scottish death rate is considerably worse than the English death rate week after week after week.

“Week 43, England had 16 per million, and Scotland had 19 deaths per million. Week 44 saw 22 deaths per million in England, it was 30 in Scotland.

“Week 45, there’s 31 deaths per million in England, 37 in Scotland. And the last week of records, Week 46, there is 40 in England, 50 in Scotland.

“So you have actually done worse than England over the last second wave. Have you let people of Scotland down?”

Despite the sparse population and the tougher restrictions in parts of Scotland the relatively high death rate has challenged the image of Sturgeon being more effective in the fight against coronavirus than Boris Johnson.

The First Minister said there was no level of coronavirus deaths that was acceptable, adding she would “probably for the rest of my life deeply regret the number of people who’ve lost their lives and the face of this virus”.

Sturgeon said there were particular long-term health issues in Scotland and claimed that cumulatively the death rate in Scotland is “significantly” lower than England and Wales.

She said: “We are still in the teeth of this pandemic so it is premature for any country to be declaring victory or assessing performance against others.”

“We’re not complacent but we do have a lower prevalence of the virus at the moment than the other nations of the UK.”

She added: "I don’t think there is any level of deaths that is acceptable. Across the whole of the UK and across the whole of Europe fat more people have died from this virus than any of us feel comfortable with.”

Sturgeon was also challenged on deaths in care homes with Marr saying “47 per cent of the deaths in Scotland were in care homes, that’s a lot higher than, for instance, in England.”

Sturgeon said excess deaths in Scotland in care homes were lower as a proportion than those in England but more had been attributed to covid.

She said: “That simplistic view of deaths in care homes does not perhaps bear scrutiny.”

Sturgeon added: “The death toll is unacceptable, this is a global pandemic that has caused great suffering but if it starts to sound as if people like me are minimising deaths that would be completely wrong.” 

The First Minister also faced questions on education and when she was first made aware of allegations of sexual misconduct against Alex Salmond.