Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party Jackson Carlaw has urged First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to personally condemn a recent protest against English visitors near Scotland’s border.
"We’ve got to change the language because the scenes we saw on the border yesterday afternoon were an absolute disgrace,” Carlaw told the BBC on Sunday.
He described Sturgeon as “one of the fastest people” he knows “with her fingers taking onto Twitter - she was tweeting last night about watching Hamilton on the Disney channel”.
"Frankly I think as somebody who leads the country I would have expected her to disassociate it, to condemn it. Even if it's belated, I'd like her to do it now,” the Tory leader pointed out.
He was echoed by Scottish Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, who slammed the protest as “horrible, reprehensible and vile”, adding that “luckily these morons don't represent the Scotland I know and love”.
Carlow spoke after a group of nationalists staged a rally on Saturday at a rest area on the A1 route towards Berwick-upon-Tweed four kilometres from the Scottish-UK border, claiming that they were seeking to keep Scotland "Covid-free".
I have no idea how anybody would think this would win over support for independence. It could not be more counter productive and ill-conceived. pic.twitter.com/182YFXsv5c
— Pete Wishart (@PeteWishart) July 4, 2020
Online photographs and footage showed a small convoy of cars and vans with Saltires, Scottish National Party (SNP) flags and independence slogans. In one clip, a male campaigner is seen addressing the camera and stating, “basically, what we’re saying is, stay the f**k out”.
Sturgeon Slams Boris Johnson’s 'No Border Between England and Scotland' Remark
The rally came a few days after Sturgeon lashed out at UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson over what she described as “such an absurd statement” that there is no boundary between England and Scotland.
“What there definitely is, is a geographical boundary to my powers as First Minister,” she stressed, urging Johnson to concentrate "with an absolute laser-like focus on what we need to do within our own responsibilities and working together when necessary to stop a virus".
She also touched upon the possibility of quarantining those who enter Scotland, saying that she will "discuss that with other administrations as appropriate" if she sees that there is a risk of COVID-19 coming to the nation from "other parts of the UK".
The remarks followed Johnson bashing Sturgeon’s push to impose the quarantine measures on tourists travelling to Scotland, saying that "there have been no such discussions with the Scottish administration about that".
"But I would point out to [Conservative MP Andrew Bowie] what he knows very well – there is no such thing as a border between England and Scotland", the British PM added.
On Monday, Sturgeon told reporters that she is not "ruling anything out" when asked whether she would consider introducing restrictions on cross-border travel due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Over the past few weeks, the number of COVID-19 cases in Scotland has decreased as the country reopened several of its businesses which were closed earlier amid the virus lockdown.
