British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced accusations that he is not abiding by the country’s lockdown rules as he visited Scotland to laud the rapid rollout of coronavirus vaccines across the United Kingdom, AP reports.

Critics say the Conservative prime minister is politicking at a time when the UK is in a strict lockdown as a result of a huge resurgence of the virus that Johnson has largely blamed on a new variant first identified around London and southeast England.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has described Johnson’s visit as “not essential,” in the same way that a visit by herself to another part of Scotland would not be deemed essential under current lockdown rules.