ANDY Burnham has responded to Nicola Sturgeon after she questioned his claim that he was not invited to meet her during his visit to Scotland.
Confusion arose after an article in the Sunday Mail quoted Burnham complaining that he had not been invited to see Sturgeon during his visit to Scotland this month – despite the pair meeting on Wednesday in St Andrew’s house.
Burnham said: "I asked to meet but I got no response and I think that's a shame."
Upon seeing the article, Sturgeon tweeted: “Interesting interview with Andy Burnham in today’s Sunday Mail. I was a bit perplexed by this part of it tho - Andy and I met on Wednesday afternoon in St Andrew’s House and had a constructive discussion about a range of issues.”
Interesting interview with Andy Burnham in today’s @Sunday_Mail - https://t.co/tdgx3rA5qF I was a bit perplexed by this part of it tho - Andy and I met on Wednesday afternoon in St Andrew’s House and had a constructive discussion about a range of issues. pic.twitter.com/u2iMe7N51T
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) August 28, 2022
And Burnham has now responded saying that the interview had occurred before the meeting had been confirmed.
He wrote: “We certainly did Nicola - it was good to see you. This interview took place before the meeting had been confirmed.”
There had been speculation over whether the two would meet this month after Burnham accused the SNP of treating the north of England “with contempt” in relation to a travel ban on Scots going to Manchester during lockdown.
At the time of the ban, the area had the highest proportion of people likely to test positive for coronavirus of any region in the country. Despite this, Burnham said the decision was not proportionate and accused the Scottish Government of “hypocrisy”.
At a Fringe event this month, Burnham claimed that a request to meet the First Minister had been ignored – something the Scottish Government said was “inaccurate” as they had responded on the same day to agree on an agenda and identify dates.
The pair eventually met on Wednesday, August 24.
