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<\/p>\nNicola Sturgeon’s habit of ‘gazumping’ the UK government’s Covid policies was ‘unhelpful and confusing’, Matt Hancock said today.<\/p>\n
Giving evidence to the official inquiry, the former health secretary gave a damning assessment of the ex-SNP leader’s behaviour.<\/p>\n
He complained that she would ‘spin’ policies to make it look like she was ahead of Westminster, even when issues had been discussed collectively.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Covid-19 Inquiry was shown WhatsApp messages from Mr Hancock from July 2020, regarding communications around travel from Spain and quarantine.<\/p>\n
When told that No10 wanted to communicate the matter ‘ASAP’, Mr Hancock replied: ‘Me too. It will leak anyway \u2013 and the Scots will try to get their announcement out first.’<\/p>\n
At the inquiry today, Mr Hancock was asked by a representative of the Scottish Covid bereaved: ‘What is the issue with the First Minister communicating that to the people of Scotland first?’<\/p>\n
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Nicola Sturgeon ‘s habit of ‘gazumping’ the UK government ‘s Covid policies was ‘unhelpful and confusing’, Matt Hancock said today (pictured, the former SNP leader holding a briefing in August 2020)<\/p>\n
Mr Hancock said: ‘There were a number of moments when the first minister of Scotland would communicate in a way that was unhelpful and confusing to the public.<\/p>\n
‘And sometimes, (she) would leave a meeting and begin communication of a decision, for instance, sooner than agreed.’<\/p>\n
He added: ‘We found it much more difficult when decisions went up to first minister level, particularly with Nicola Sturgeon.<\/p>\n
‘Because we would find that sometimes some kind of spin was put on what was essentially substantively the same decision. So it was a frustration, I’ve got to be honest about that.’<\/p>\n
However, Mr Hancock also told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry he had a ‘constructive relationship’ with his counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and that their weekly briefings felt like ‘therapy sessions’.<\/p>\n
Ms Sturgeon was first minister of Scotland and SNP leader from 2014 until earlier this year<\/p>\n
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Mr Hancock complained that Ms Strugeon would ‘spin’ policies to make it look like she was ahead of Westminster, even when issues had been discussed collectively<\/p>\n