Ms Sturgeon said that there was no doubt that the scale and the immediacy of the challenge it presents is of profound concern. Ms Sturgeon said she was aware of the economic impact of the appeal for Scots to reduce their social contact in the lead-up to Christmas, and she is acutely aware of the severe economic impact on the hospitality sector. Ms Sturgeon said that the ministries at Holyrood have 100 million dollars for business support, but they also know that they will not fully compensate these sectors for the impact they are suffering right now. The First Minister called on the UK government to put in place the type and scale of financial support available earlier in the pandemic. She said: Whether anyone likes it or not, that can only come from the UK Government because it has borrowing powers that the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments don't have. I will make a statement to the Prime Minister later today. With the virus doubling every couple of days, businesses bleeding every 24 hours counts, I had hoped that I would have already spoken to him by now. There is no time to waste. Ms Sturgeon told reporters that the Prime Minister and Chancellor Rishi Sunak had to act urgently across the country to help hospitality businesses facing mass cancellations. She said that the UK Government has to get its finger out, it has to step up and it has to provide this support. We're seeing the same impact on hospitality in England as we're seeing in Scotland. I don't know when the Chancellor is back in the country - if he's back in the country - but he should have no other job today but to get the financial support that hospitality, culture and the wider economy need as we go through this next difficult phase. On Thursday, the First Minister s plea for an emergency meeting with the Prime Minister about funding was rejected. Downing Street refused to give funding to the hospitality industry and dismissed the First Minister's request for a meeting with the Prime Minister. A spokesman said: I haven't had any calls or meetings to update you on. We will continue to work with them as we have done throughout the epidemic as we work closely with the devolved administrations. The official said yesterday that there was a Cobra meeting that involved the devolved administrations led by Michael Gove. The meeting was in place to discuss our commitment to work together to tackle COVID 19 and an agreement to stay in close touch, so you can opt into the lead up to Christmas. SNP slammed for claiming 'no money available' to aid Covid recovery LATEST Frances O Grady, General Secretary of Trades Union Congress, also called for immediate measures to help workers and firms in the hardest hit sectors. After a four day visit to the US, Sunak returned to the UK on Friday. He said that there would be no new support for the hospitality sector as the Omicron variant continues to spread.