First Minister hits out over ‘air bridges’
PEOPLE from Scotland could be able to book holidays abroad later this month after the First Minister said agreement was likely on “air bridges” with lowrisk countries.
The UK Government has announced that from July 10, travel will be possible between England and countries including France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Belgium and Germany, all deemed low risk.
Countries whose travellers would still have to quarantine for 14 days because of their high number of cases include Sweden, Portugal, the US and China.
But the Scottish Government is yet to agree to the list for Scotland, with the Nicola Sturgeon criticising the UK Government’s handling of the issue.
Sturgeon said the UK Government has been “shambolic” in its handling of “air bridges” .
The UK Government released a list of countries that it would not quarantine people from when they enter the UK, from July 10.
It would allow people to go on holiday and not have to self-isolate for 14 days on their return.
Currently, the list only applies to England as the Scottish Government has not yet reached a decision on whether it agrees.
Nicola Sturgeon said that the list of countries that was supplied to the Scottish Government on Thursday was not the same as the list revealed yesterday which she described as evidence of the “shifting sands” approach.
She said: “We can’t allow ourselves to be dragged along on another government’s, quite frankly, shambolic decision-making process.
“We want to welcome visitors from around the world and allow our own citizens to travel. We also want alignment with the rest of the UK but we must make sure we open the country up safely.”
The First Minister said there were considerations Scotland had to take given different rates of infection north and south of the Border.
She added: “Measures such as quarantine become more important as levels of the virus reduce with the possibility of new cases coming in from outside.
Sturgeon said that the Scottish Government will take a decision in the next few days and added it was likely it could agree with the list on low-risk countries – and that it would be from July 10.
Glasgow Airport urged a four-nations approach for clarity and to protect jobs in airports and airlines.
Derek Provan, chief executive of AGS Airports which owns and manages Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports, said: “Anything other than a four-nations approach to the easing of the quarantine restrictions is going to put further jobs and livelihoods at risk.
“This isn’t just about people being able to go on a summer holiday, it’s about safely re-establishing the routes that drive trade and investment.”