Nicola Sturgeon urged to condemn Scottish border protests

The Tories have stepped up calls for Nicola Sturgeon to personally condemn a protest staged at the Scottish border which urged English visitors to turn back.

The Scottish border was the scene of the protests yesterday

A group of Nationalists staged the demo in a layby area near the A1 at Lamberton, claiming they were seeking to keep Scotland "Covid-free".

The group was spoken to by the police and the action met with widespread condemnation from political figures, including senior Scottish nationalists.

Tory leader Jackson Carlaw today appeared to suggest the protests may have been prompted by Ms Sturgeon's controversial warning last week that she could not rule out quarantine checks for English visitors if Covid levels diverge significantly north and south of the border.

"We’ve got to change the language because the scenes we saw on the border yesterday afternoon were an absolute disgrace," Mr Carlaw told BBC Scotland's Politics Show today.

"The First Minister is one of the fastest people I know with her fingers taking onto Twitter - she was tweeting last night about watching Hamilton on the Disney channel.

"Frankly I think as somebody who leads the country I would have expected her to disassociate it, to condemn it.

"Even if it's belated, I'd like her to do it now."

Photographs and video footage emerged online on Saturday showing a small convoy of cars and vans festooned with Saltires, SNP flags and independence slogans parked at a rest area on the A1 route towards Berwick-upon-Tweed.

In one video, a male campaigner addresses the camera, stating: “Basically, what we’re saying is, stay the f**k out”.

Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf was among a host of senior nationalists who did condemn the protest.

“If you are a racist you are no friend of mine and no part of the movement I belong to. Horrible, reprehensible and vile,” he tweeted

“Luckily these morons don't represent the Scotland I know and love.”

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