First Minister ‘no interest in spat over testing’

Nicola Sturgeon said Scotland is not stuck with a testing system that doesn’t work despite “intermittent frustrations” with delays involving the UK Government’s testing infrastructure.

The First Minister said she had “no interest” in getting involved in a “spat” with the UK Government over the Scottish Government’s criticism around tests being diverted away from the Glasgow lighthouse laboratory over the weekend to avoid capacity problems.

Following the release of a low number of positive cases, Ms Sturgeon said the delays were due to issues with the system, something the UK Government had called“categorically untrue ”.

Speaking at her daily corona virus briefing, the First Minister said she believed the UK Government had not disagreed with the “substance” of her criticism and instead disagreed with how“we’ve described that”.

She said: "The statement I saw from them recognised that a large number of tests have been diverted from the Glasgow lighthouse laboratories to lighthouse lab oratories elsewhere in the UK. That’s what I am saying and that appears to be what they are agreeing with.

"I have got no interest in getting into a spat with anybody about this, but it is vital, equally, that I am straight and transparent about my understanding of where any issues are and what we are doing to sort those out.”

Ms Sturgeon explained that it was not possible for the Scottish Government to simply “hive off ” parts of the testing system that is not working and operate it outwith the UKwide system.