SO ARE WE GOING ON HOLIDAY?
Sturgeon stalls once again on approving list of air bridges
SCOTS were left in holiday limbo yesterday after Nicola Sturgeon again refused to list the countries she considers safe to fly to.
As people in England prepare to use ‘air bridges’ to travel quarantine-free, Scots have not been told where they can visit without facing 14 days of self-isolation on their return.
The First Minister was accused of ‘dithering’ and being ‘flippant’ by industry chiefs as she came under increasing pressure to give Scots the green light.
From Friday, people in England will be able to travel to more than 60 countries – including Spain, Italy and Croatia – without having to quarantine when they return.
At the same time, overseas visitors will be able to visit England without being required to self-isolate, potentially giving the country’s tourism sector a boost.
Miss Sturgeon yesterday claimed she needed more time to assess the possible risks of foreign travel and urged people to enjoy ‘staycations’ instead.
Travel bosses said the suggestion was ‘flippant’ and warned that Scotland risks being left behind over the ‘farcical’ decision not to have a four-nation approach.
Joanne Dooey, president of the Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association (SPAA), warned the uncertainty was having a ‘massive impact’ on the industry.
Speaking to the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme, she said: ‘We can’t understand why Scotland has been kept different.
‘The Scottish Government has had these lists of countries for quite a while and the other issue is the quarantine, nobody seems to have been followed up on quarantine. It’s a bit farcical.’
Miss Dooey added: ‘Flippant remarks from Nicola Sturgeon with regards to holidaying in Scotland, how does that help the travel industry of Scotland?
‘Thousands of people’s jobs are at risk here.’
She urged the First Minister to publish the list of ‘green’ countries which are seen to have a lower infection level. The SPAA wrote to Miss Sturgeon last Friday seeking clarification but has yet to receive a reply.
At the Scottish Government’s daily briefing on the Covid-19 pandemic, the SNP leader said she would not simply ‘rubber-stamp’ decisions made by Boris Johnson.
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘I absolutely want to see us move away from a situation where we have quarantine restrictions as quickly as possible but we have to guard against importing cases of the virus here.’
She added: ‘These are really difficult judgments. They are not easy in any way. I’m not, in respect of this, prepared to simply be a rubber stamp on decisions taken by another government.
‘I’m not criticising those decisions but I’ve got to assess them and apply judgment to them.’
Asked if she could look at publishing a list of countries which are considered safe, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘We may do that.’
But last night Miss Dooey warned travel agents, airport staff, airline workers and taxi drivers could all suffer. She said: ‘We don’t want
Scotland’s entire travel industry to become extinct, but this is a serious risk that the sector is currently facing.
‘We cannot understand why scientific advice for one part of the UK means that English travellers departing from English airports are safe to travel to the “green list” but it’s not safe for Scots to do so from Scottish airports.’
She added: ‘The Scottish tourism sector has been brought to its knees by the pandemic.
‘How is Scotland’s hospitality sector going to recover if we have lost all of our flights?’ Airport bosses, meanwhile, have accused Miss Sturgeon of ‘dithering’ over the air bridges decision, and said it was likely to cost people’s ‘jobs and livelihoods’.
A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport said: ‘Another day and yet more dithering from the Scottish Government.
‘Airports never like to hear about delays, but when it is having a direct impact on people’s jobs and livelihoods then they are even more unwelcome.’
Comment – Page 18
‘The sector has been brought to its knees’