Spain has indicated it could veto an independent Scotland’s future membership in the EU if the Scottish Government does not allow travel between Scotland and Spain in the summer of 2020.
The email sent in July 2020 read as follows: Spain is currently subject to much higher levels of oversight and performance than other countries.
read more: 5 exchanges from Nicola Sturgeon’s UK Covid Inquiry appearance
“If not added to the exclusion list, ministers would have to explain why they are not added to the exclusion list when their estimated point prevalence is 0.015. 0.015 is closer to the green compared to 0.33 when that decision was made.
“We can clearly see that the Spanish authorities are trying everything possible to contain the spread of infection (compare and contrast with the spread of infection in England).
“No matter how much ministers justify it on health grounds, the Spanish government will conclude that it is entirely political. They will not forget. There is a real possibility that it will never accept EU membership.”
Discussing the emails at the inquiry, the former prime minister said: “These were decisions taken for public health reasons and they were difficult decisions.”
She said: “The decisions my Government will take will ensure that we keep the spread of coronavirus to the lowest possible level, reduce the number of lives lost and minimize disruption to people’s lives and children’s education. I was hoping to keep it down.
“I accept that there will be some real serious scrutiny of the decisions that have been made, and there are some decisions that I should have taken, decisions that my government should have taken differently, and many more. I think he was right.”
“My motivation for this was just to try to do the right thing to minimize the overall damage that the virus is causing.
“In Scotland, as in other parts of the UK, the casualties were too high and we were not as successful as we would have liked, but perhaps in some ways the steps we have taken are It may have had an effect on “Impact.” ”
During a daylong evidence hearing, Ms Sturgeon repeatedly strongly rejected accusations that she had tried to politicize the pandemic to promote independence.
“I don’t think I’ve ever thought about independence as much in my life as I did during the pandemic, especially in the early stages,” she said.
“None of those decisions were influenced by political decisions or trying to favor independence. I was motivated solely by wanting to keep people as safe as possible. ”
However, Mr Dawson read out minutes from a June 2020 cabinet meeting during the hearing, which said the government would “consider” restarting efforts towards independence and a referendum. Hours later, he pointed out that Ms Sturgeon had criticized those seeking to profit politically from the pandemic.
He asked her if she was being hypocritical given her public words and the cabinet’s private position.
Referring to independence efforts, she said it was not a significant part of ministerial discussions. The Chair of the Inquiry, Lady Hallett, then intervened and set out the minutes of the meeting which set out the agreement on the matter.
Ms Sturgeon agreed to consider restarting her efforts towards independence, but said she did not want to do so.
Mr Dawson asked that if independence efforts were to go ahead at this time, it would be a “gross betrayal of the Scottish people”.
Ms Sturgeon replied: “If I had decided to politicize a global pandemic that is costing lives, livelihoods and educational opportunities, and in the face of it decided to prioritize the independence movement, I would have been right. Yes, it would have been exactly as you described.
“That’s exactly why I didn’t do it. I wouldn’t have done it.”