Sturgeon says rules on travel from rest of UK ‘under review’

NICOLA STURGEON has warned that she will “not shy away” from imposing quarantine restrictions on people travelling from England if she decides it is necessary to protect public health.

The Scottish First Minister said that while she was not “immediately planning” to bring in restrictions, she was concerned about importing Covid-19 from elsewhere in the UK and the possibility would be kept “under review”.

Her comments were criticised by members of the Scottish tourism sector, while unionists accused her of seeking to “drive a wedge” between Scotland and England.

On Saturday, of the 148 new Covid-19 deaths recorded across the UK, all but one were in England. Although new cases recorded in Scotland rose to 19 yesterday, Ms Sturgeon said the virus was at “very low levels”.

While the Scottish Government does not have the power to close the border with England, it could impose quarantine rules. Asked about the possibility of requiring visitors from England to self-isolate, Ms Sturgeon told the BBC’S Andrew Marr Show: “We have to take a very close look at making sure we are not seeing the virus come in from other parts of the UK.

“It’s not something we have decided to do, it’s not something I’m immediately planning to do, but I will take decisions the best I can to protect the health of Scotland.”

Jackson Carlaw, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said: “In the same week that Nicola Sturgeon approved unrestricted travel to and from 57 other countries, it is astonishing that she persists with promoting the possibility of a quarantine for people entering Scotland from the rest of the UK.”

Malcolm Duck, a landlord in East Lothian who is also involved in promoting golf tourism, said: “To be holding us back, basically telling the English market not to come up, is shocking.”