A row over Scotland’s ban on non-essential travel to Manchester has escalated after a Scottish government briefing dismissed the explanation of the Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, for protesting against the restrictions as “incoherent and absurd” .
A spokesperson for Burnham later expressed surprise that Nicola Sturgeon’s team had briefed details of a discussion “in what we were told was a confidential meeting”.
Burnham and Sturgeon discussed the issue at a regular four nations meeting chaired by Michael Gove on Wednesday afternoon.
On Monday, the Greater Manchester mayor called on Sturgeon to justify her “totally disproportionate” travel ban between the north-west of England and Scotland in an open letter which he copied to all MSPs. He also criticised her government for failing to give advance warning of the ban to Manchester officials.
Sturgeon extended the ban already in place for Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen to Manchester and Salford last Friday, because of rising case rates in those areas. Burnham has said the case rate for Dundee was similarly high.
On Wednesday evening, a source close to the first minister said Sturgeon had pointed out the “stark contradiction” between what Burnham was saying and his own local authority’s advice to “minimise travel”.
She said: “Burnham had no proper answer to that and his attempted explanation was incoherent and absurd.”
It is understood that Sturgeon did concede she could have communicated her plans better, although previous bans on Scots travelling to Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen were not discussed with officials in those areas prior to their announcement either.
After the briefing, a spokesperson for Burnham said: “Given [this briefing] has happened, we need to be clear on what was said. The first minister accepted that she should have told the mayor before she announced her decision.”
“We also welcome her acceptance that the Scottish government needs to provide more information about how they reach their decisions on bringing in regulations and travel bans that affect other parts of the UK.”
“We are, however, disappointed that the first minister completely dismissed the financial impact her decision has had on residents in Bolton, Manchester and Salford and the need for her government to consider providing compensation.”
The Scottish government previously dismissed this suggestion as “not appropriate”.
The meeting came after easyJet announced it was scrapping new routes from Manchester to Glasgow and Aberdeen because of the ban.
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