War of words between Scotland and London over PM’s ‘there is no border’ claim

A war of words has erupted over the suggestion Scotland could impose quarantine on visitors from the rest of the UK, with Boris Johnson attacking it as “highly irresponsible” and Nicola Sturgeon hitting back that his comments were “frankly disgraceful”.

Boris Johnson in the House of Commons yesterday

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Johnson said he was strongly opposed to any quarantine within the UK, and insisted: “There is no such thing as a border between Scotland and England”.

Earlier this week, Ms Sturgeon did not rule out asking those travelling to Scotland from the rest of the UK to quarantine for two weeks if scientific advice justified it.

She pointed to the example of the United States, where states that have brought down infection rates have imposed quarantine on arrivals from parts of the country where Covid-19 cases are rising rapidly.

At PMQs, Mr Johnson was asked by Aberdeenshire Tory MP Andrew Bowie if he shared the “anger and frustration of the Scottish tourist sector just as its getting back on its feet that it’s having the legs pulled out from under it by deeply irresponsible, damaging and divisive talk of arbitrary border closures and quarantining of visitors from the rest of the UK”.

Mr Johnson replied: “I must say I find the suggestion absolutely astonishing and shameful. There will be no such discussions with the Scottish administration about that.”

At the daily Scottish Government coronavirus briefing, Ms Sturgeon criticised what she said were the Prime Minister’s “absurd and ridiculous political comments”, and urged him to focus on the pandemic.

The First Minister said there were currently no plans to impose a quarantine on arrivals from the rest of the UK, and claimed it was “frankly disgraceful” for Mr Johnson to try and escalate the issue into a constitutional row.

“Given the nature of what we’re dealing with right now – just to remind the Prime Minister: an infectious virus – I would not be doing my job properly if I ruled things out that, around the world, are being used selectively in appropriate circumstances to try to contain a virus.

“If I’m looking at the data and the evidence and seeing there’s a risk to Scotland of infection coming in from other parts of the UK and I think that there needs to be measures taken to contain that, then I will discuss that with other administrations as appropriate.”

She added: “That’s all that drives this decision-making proces, and I really do say to people – whether it’s the leader of the Scottish Tories, the Secretary of State [for Scotland], or even the Prime Minister, who I have been at pains not to criticise over this – if you find yourself trying to turn any of this into a political or a constitutional argument, go and take a long hard look at yourself in a mirror.”

The First Minister went on: “What there definitely is, is a geographical boundary to my powers as First Minister.

“If the Prime Minister is questioning that now, I’m not sure what he would say if I pitched up in Newcastle and started to try to implement Scottish Government policies.”

Earlier, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack told MPs that talk of a quarantine if infection rates in England remain higher than in Scotland was harming the Scottish tourism industry.

And Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw said that “Nicola Sturgeon’s refusal to rule out a quarantine of those from elsewhere in the UK is bringing more worrying uncertainty to an industry on its knees”.

The Scottish Government also has yet to confirm whether it will follow the UK government in lifting quarantine requirements on foreign visitors.

UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is expected to announce the first “air bridges” between the UK and countries with low infection rates today, paving the way for tourists to avoid quarantine.

Meanwhile, a leading medical expert has warned the UK must “prepare for the worst” this winter, instead of relying on the development of a successful coronavirus vaccine.

Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at Oxford University, told MPs it would be advisable to prepare for the colder weather, and flu season, without depending on a breakthrough from researchers working on a vaccine.

His comments came in response to Greg Clark, chairman of the science and technology select committee, who asked if the country should be preparing for the winter without a vaccine. Sir John said: “My strong advice is be prepared for the worst.”

The MPs also heard that it could be chaos in hospitals if the UK sees a resurgence of coronavirus this winter, alongside a serious flu season.

Sir John said it was therefore important to make sure that people were getting the flu vaccine.

Kate Bingham, chairwoman of the UK’s vaccine taskforce, told the committee that while she was optimistic that a vaccine would be developed, in the short-term it may just be one that reduces the severity of the disease, rather than prevents people from getting it.

Asked when a vaccine may be available, she said maybe by early next year depending on the success of clinical trials.

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