Nicola Sturgeon caused 'all sorts of difficulties' during Covid pandemic, says Hancock

Former first minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon caused “all sorts of difficulties” during the pandemic, Matt Hancock has claimed.

Former UK health secretary Matt Hancock appeared before the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Thursday which is exploring the impact on the healthcare systems of the four nations.

The Inquiry was shown a document from May 2020 which made a request to “reset” the relationship between the English and Scottish administrations.

Asked if that request related to the UK’s healthcare systems, Hancock answered: “No, this was all about how Nicola Sturgeon was causing all sorts of difficulties.”

When asked if there was “generally good collaboration”, the former health secretary answered: “At a health level there was excellent collaboration between the CMOs (chief medical officers), who themselves had their own call, and then between the four health ministers.

“And you can see from the minutes and the WhatsApp group that we had a really, genuinely collaborative approach.”

Former first minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has finished gave evidence in person to the UK Covid Inquiry in January.

She answered questions for a full day from the inquiry’s lead counsel Jamie Dawson KC.

Sturgeon denied making pandemic decisions for political reasons, adding she had not “thought less” about politics and Scottish independence in her life than she did during the pandemic.

UK minister Michael Gove previously accused the Scottish Government of seeking “political conflict” during the pandemic.

She said: “I was motivated solely by trying to do the best we could to keep people as safe as possible.

“We did that to some extent, but not to, and perhaps we never could have done it to the extent I would have wished we could have done.

“I carry the regret for the loss of life, the loss of opportunity, the loss of education of our young people, I carry that with me every single day.”