Nicola Sturgeon: I would not book a foreign holiday right now

The First Minister has said she would not personally book a foreign holiday given the “inherent unpredictability” of the spread of coronavirus, as she poured cold water on demands for compensation for those affected by the sudden reintroduction of quarantine on travellers from Spain.

Nicola Sturgeon moved to quash any hopes of people being compensated for quarantining on return from Spain.

Speaking at the Scottish Government’s coronavirus briefing, Ms Sturgeon was asked about potential compensation for Scots who booked holidays in Spain only to find they would now have to spend 14 days in quarantine on their return, with the potential loss of earnings it could cause.

Spain, which was approved as a “green route” country by the Scottish Government last Thursday, suddenly had its grading for quarantine-free travel revoked at midnight on Saturday after a spike in Covid-19 cases in the Catalonia region.

As a result, demands have been growing for Scots who flew out to Spain believing there would be no quarantine on their return, to receive compensation for loss of income.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie, who has also called for the government to publish the science behind its decisions, said: "The decision to reimpose the quarantine on travelers just three days after it had been lifted was shambolic and avoidable as there was evidence of a surge in cases in Spain.

"Now we need some practical solutions to support those travelers who jumped at the opportunity to go to Spain only to find themselves facing a fortnight off work in isolation. For many this could mean a significant loss of income.

“The people who need help are those who left for holiday to Spain last week because they were told by the Scottish Government there would be no requirement to quarantine on their return.

"The Scottish Government should put in place a hotline to help workers directly affected and whose employers cannot afford to have them off work. The reduction in earnings imposed by going onto statutory sick pay can be huge at a time when household incomes are strained. The Scottish Government need to take responsibility for their error and ensure that people are supported."

However, today Ms Sturgeon said: "A general point which relates to any country if you’re booking foreign travel right now, is that just because a country looks to be exempt from quarantine when you come home, do not assume that won't change. As we saw with Spain last week it might change at very short notice.

"You also can't be sure the country you’re going to won’t change its own internal regulations while you’re there if it has a spike in cases. That leads me to pretty much advise to be very cautious about foreign travel because it is very unpredictable, which I know can be frustrating."

Pressed on the potential for a compensation scheme, she added: “It's not something I want to give people an expectation of, though we will consider all suggestions made to us, but I don't want to raise people's expectations.

“i know this is really tough. These decisions are not easy and I know people who bear the consequences of these decisions find it tough too. But there's an inherent unpredictability and uncertainty in everything we're dealing with because we're dealing with a virus which doesn't do what we’d like it to and situations can change very quickly.”

She added: “Last week the most up to date information we had on Spain showed its prevelance [of Covid] was closer to Scotland's so we thought given the impact of these decisions on aviation and tourist sector, we could make a move on Spain. But the information we saw at the weekend showed there’d been a doubling of cases in the most recent weeks, so unfortunately that’s the basis on which we have to take these decisions.

“Last week I was very clear to people, that notwithstanding what the regulations say, you cannot assume that won't change at short notice and unfortunately that has been borne out by the situation in Spain. I continue to say to people, and take no pleasure in saying it, but right now be very cautious about foreign travel that's not essential.

“I wouldn't be booking a foreign holiday right now, and if I had the time to go on holiday I would choose to spend it in Scotland.”

Asked directly about publishing the scientific evidence behind the Scottish Government's decision on lifting the quarantine on Spain last week, she said: “I would like it to be published. The Scottish Government doesn't own this data it's shared with us, it's UK government owned data. It's not ours to publish. We've asked the UK government to consider publication and we continue to press that point.

"The more of the factors and data and different things underpinning our decisions we’re able to share with the public the more understanding and buy-in you can get, so we do hope we get to a situation where this data is published.”

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