BORIS Johnson has stressed that “there’s no such thing as a border between England and Scotland” amid criticism Nicola Sturgeon has failed to rule out visitors from other parts of the UK potentially having to quarantine.
The First Minister has stressed that there are currently “no plans” to force visitors from other parts of the UK where virus levels are higher to self-isolate but has come under criticism for not completely ruling it out.
Mr Johnson was prompted on the issue by West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MP Andrew Bowie at Prime Minister’s Questions.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon urged to rule out quarantine for English tourists
Mr Bowie asked the Prime Minister if he shared the “anger and frustration” of the tourist sector in Scotland that “just as it’s getting back on its feet, that it’s having the legs pulled out from under it by deeply irresponsible, damaging and divisive talk of arbitrary border closures and quarantining visitors from across the rest of the United Kingdom”.
Mr Johnson told MPs that he found the speculation “absolutely astonishing and shameful”.
He added: “There have been no such discussions with the Scottish administration about that.
“There is no such thing as a border between England and Scotland.”
Earlier Scottish Secretary Alister Jack described comments suggesting that Scotland could require travellers from other UK nations to be quarantined as "divisive".
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Sturgeon refuses to rule out English quarantine amid tourism worry
He said: "What's deeply regrettable is that the First Minister has encouraged reckless talk.
"This talk of quarantining people from other parts of the United Kingdom is disappointing, it's divisive.
"It's not the language which we should be hearing from our First Minister because it undermines the joint efforts that we've had in tackling Covid-19 and it's bad for business and it's especially bad for the tourism business."
But Ms Sturgeon has hit back at the claims from the UK Government, tweeting that “what is “reckless’ is trying to turn a public health battle against a deadly and dangerous virus into a political/ constitutional argument.”
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