Nicola Sturgeon tells Boris Johnson his lockdown exit does not apply to Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon has urged Boris Johnson to make it clear that any lockdown exit measures he announces today will not apply in Scotland.
Boris Johnson will set out lockdown road map for EnglandBoris Johnson will set out lockdown road map for England
Boris Johnson will set out lockdown road map for England

The Prime Minister has insisted that the all four UK leaders agreed that joint working would be critical in the next stage of battling Coronavirus.

The UK has implemented an earlier easing of restrictions south of the border which got underway earlier this month. Scotland only entered phase one of its lockdown exit today.

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Mr Johnson is announcing a fresh tranche of measures in a road map being published later today. The Tory leader held talks with Ms Sturgeon and other leaders from the devolved administration this afternoon.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, the Scottish First Minister said she would urge the Prime Minister to be clear about the parameters of his guidance.

"I will, as I have done before, ask the Prime Minister when he's talking about lockdown and lifting restrictions to make clear that he is talking about England alone," she told the daily Coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh today.

"That's not a political point, it's not a constitutional point, it's a point about the importance of clarity of public messaging."

But a spokesman for the Prime Minister said that close working between the four UK nations was at the heart of today’s talks.

“The PM made clear that as we begin to move to the next phase of tackling this virus, he remains determined to work closely with the devolved administrations. This continues to be a UK-wide approach, even though we may travel at slightly different speeds based on the scientific evidence.

“He also stressed the importance of particularly close engagement on programmes that must be UK-wide to be most effective. This includes contact tracing, where coordinated systems across the UK will be critical to the next phase of our efforts. They also discussed the important work of the UK Joint Biosecurity Centre in making the response across the country increasingly targeted.

“They all agreed that continued engagement is vital and that they will remain in close contact in the days and weeks ahead.”

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