Boris Johnson claims he 'got on very well' with Nicola Sturgeon
07.12.2023 - 16:53
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
Boris Johnson has claimed he "got on very well" with Nicola Sturgeon when they worked together.
The former Prime Minister said that he and the ex-First Minister "had a friendly relationship" while they were in office.
Johnson was speaking at the UK Covid inquiry on Thursday afternoon.
He rejected a suggestion by his former chief of staff Edward Lister that he had “no real personal relationship” with Sturgeon.
Johnson said he had “no ill will whatsoever” with Sturgeon when taking questions from Claire Mitchell KC, who represents Scottish Covid Bereaved.
He said: “When I have talked to her, we have got on very well and had a friendly relationship.”
Asked why Lister would have received that impression, Johnson said: “Much as I love the SNP, politically there was a certain amount of toing and froing between the SNP and me as prime minister.”
Johnson was UK Prime Minister during the pandemic, while Sturgeon was Scottish First Minister.
They did not always see eye-to-eye.
They clashed over varying Covid rules north and south of the border, with Sturgeon often being more cautious about lifting restrictions.
Johnson had a dig at Sturgeon within minutes of the hearing starting on Wednesday.
He said there were problems around communication with the public as Scotland would have "a slightly different" message than the UK Government.
The SNP has not hid its dislike for Johnson over the years. The party used a picture of his head in its campaign posters for the 2019 general election.
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