Sturgeon hits back at ‘childish’ Johnson
Nicola Sturgeon has hit back at Boris Johnson after he said he did not want her “anywhere near” the world’s biggest climate change summit when it is held in Glasgow next year.
A spokesman for the First Minister said people across the UK would be “deeply embarrassed” by the Prime Minister’s remarks at the Conservative Party conference on Sunday.
Environmental groups also criticised Mr Johnson, describing the move as “petty” and calling for Scottish ministers to make its own plans for a series of events outside the summit.
The UN climate change conference, which is being cohosted by the UK and Italy, is expected to be the most important gathering on the issue since the Paris agreement was signed in 2015.
The summit at the Scottish Events Campus in Glasgow will be the largest the UK has ever held, with around 30,000 delegates and up to 200 world leaders attending.
During a Scottish reception at the Tory conference in Manchester, Mr Johnson said he wanted to “put a Union Flag” on every Government policy to hammer home the benefits of the UK.
Giving the UN summit as an example, he added: “The leaders of the entire world will come to Glasgow and I don’t mind seeing a Saltire or two on that summit, but I want to see the Union Flag.
“I don’t want to see Nicola Sturgeon anywhere near it because the Scottish nationalist party didn’t secure that summit in Glasgow, it was the United Kingdom Government.”
A spokesman for Ms Sturgeon hit back yesterday, claiming voters would be “embarrassed to hear their Prime Minister acting so childishly”. He added: “It is right that the COP26 conference should come to Scotland given our leadership in climate action.
“We were one of the first countries in the world to acknowledge the global climate emergency and the Scottish Government has introduced the toughest targets in the UK to ensure our action matches the scale of our climate ambitions.
“When it comes to issues of common concern such as climate change, the SNP government are proud to play our part and work in partnershipwithothergovernments– something that Boris Johnson seems completely incapable of doing.”