Prospect of leaving depresses Sturgeon
NICOLA Sturgeon said she’s frustrated and depressed at the prospect of quitting the EU without a deal while the country faces up to a deadly second wave of coronavirus.
The First Minister warned Boris Johnson should have been focused on getting Britain out of a pandemic, not spending time on leaving Europe.
Sturgeon hit out after the Prime Minister signalled the UK should get ready for leaving without a deal at the end of the transition period.
She said: “I feel deeply frustrated and depressed at the prospect of no deal at the end of the transition period in December. That said, we’ve got to be realistic, any deal that is struck right now will be such a bare minimum of a deal that there’s going to be disruption at the end of this year.”
Sturgeon opposed leaving the EU and was published in a German newspaper yesterday setting out why she wants an independent Scotland to stay close to Europe.
Despite her criticism of Johnson, Sturgeon has been accused by opponents of pushing the campaign for Scottish independence when attention should be on health and education.
She added: “I feel deeply depressed about the Brexit situation and I think that’s particularly because it is avoidable. At the start of this pandemic, I said, ‘Look, planning that I might have been doing for constitutional matters I support was put on pause and on hold’. This had to take all my time and attention.
“The UK Government could have done that on Brexit and said they’re going to ask for an extension to the transition so we don’t have to worry about these things until we’re out of Covid. They didn’t do that and it’s a matter of real frustration and depression.”