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| Nicola Sturgeon calls Boris Johnson ‘disgrace to office of prime minister’ | Nicola Sturgeon calls Boris Johnson ‘disgrace to office of prime minister’ |
| (7 months later) | |
| First minister of Scotland also jokes she never thought she would look back fondly on Theresa May as PM | First minister of Scotland also jokes she never thought she would look back fondly on Theresa May as PM |
| Nicola Sturgeon has said Boris Johnson is the only prime minister she has worked with who was “a disgrace to the office”. | Nicola Sturgeon has said Boris Johnson is the only prime minister she has worked with who was “a disgrace to the office”. |
| Speaking at a panel event at the Edinburgh fringe on Saturday afternoon, hosted by broadcaster Ayesha Hazarika, she said: “I disagreed with David Cameron, I disagreed with Theresa May, I disagreed with Boris Johnson, but he’s the only one who’s actually disgraced the office of prime minister. The sooner he’s gone, the better.” | Speaking at a panel event at the Edinburgh fringe on Saturday afternoon, hosted by broadcaster Ayesha Hazarika, she said: “I disagreed with David Cameron, I disagreed with Theresa May, I disagreed with Boris Johnson, but he’s the only one who’s actually disgraced the office of prime minister. The sooner he’s gone, the better.” |
| Sturgeon said the idea that parties were taking place during the Covid-19 pandemic “blew her mind”. “The idea that this could have happened while the rest of the country was going through the horrors of it really blows my mind,” she told audience members. | Sturgeon said the idea that parties were taking place during the Covid-19 pandemic “blew her mind”. “The idea that this could have happened while the rest of the country was going through the horrors of it really blows my mind,” she told audience members. |
| “Parties themselves are bad enough, but it was the lying, frankly, and the constant attempt to shift the goalposts and the narrative. He was a disgrace, let’s be honest.” | “Parties themselves are bad enough, but it was the lying, frankly, and the constant attempt to shift the goalposts and the narrative. He was a disgrace, let’s be honest.” |
| Three prime ministers have been in Downing Street since Sturgeon took office in 2014 and she joked to audience members she never thought she would “look back fondly” on Theresa May as prime minister. | Three prime ministers have been in Downing Street since Sturgeon took office in 2014 and she joked to audience members she never thought she would “look back fondly” on Theresa May as prime minister. |
| “At the beginning of Covid, I thought it would be far better to have Theresa May – she always knew her stuff. She knew her brief,” Sturgeon said. She joked that May was a “better dancer than I am”. | “At the beginning of Covid, I thought it would be far better to have Theresa May – she always knew her stuff. She knew her brief,” Sturgeon said. She joked that May was a “better dancer than I am”. |
| The first minister called for more diversity in politics and praised Scottish Labour for having diverse leaders. | The first minister called for more diversity in politics and praised Scottish Labour for having diverse leaders. |
| She added: “Here’s a sentence you’ll never hear me utter before: to be fair to Labour in Scotland, they’ve already had a woman leader and they’ve currently got a Muslim leader, so UK Labour really has to get its act together on diversity.” | She added: “Here’s a sentence you’ll never hear me utter before: to be fair to Labour in Scotland, they’ve already had a woman leader and they’ve currently got a Muslim leader, so UK Labour really has to get its act together on diversity.” |
| When asked who she would prefer to see as prime minister, Sturgeon shrugged and laughed and said none of them would win an election in Scotland. | When asked who she would prefer to see as prime minister, Sturgeon shrugged and laughed and said none of them would win an election in Scotland. |
| She said: “It’s not really about that. They will never win an election in Scotland. What do Margaret Thatcher, John Major, David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson all have in common? They have never won an election in Scotland.” | She said: “It’s not really about that. They will never win an election in Scotland. What do Margaret Thatcher, John Major, David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson all have in common? They have never won an election in Scotland.” |
| She said the choices facing voters in England were “terrible” and accused the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, of being “a pale imitation of the Tories”. | She said the choices facing voters in England were “terrible” and accused the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, of being “a pale imitation of the Tories”. |
| Sturgeon also addressed comments made by Tory leadership contender Liz Truss, who said she should be “ignored”. She said: “I am the democratically elected first minister and you can only be in that position if a significant amount of people vote for you. | Sturgeon also addressed comments made by Tory leadership contender Liz Truss, who said she should be “ignored”. She said: “I am the democratically elected first minister and you can only be in that position if a significant amount of people vote for you. |
| “When she said I should be ignored, what a lot of people in Scotland hear is the democratic votes and choices of people in Scotland should be ignored. I don’t think that’s appropriate. People in Scotland are getting increasingly tired of being ignored by Tory prime ministers.” | “When she said I should be ignored, what a lot of people in Scotland hear is the democratic votes and choices of people in Scotland should be ignored. I don’t think that’s appropriate. People in Scotland are getting increasingly tired of being ignored by Tory prime ministers.” |
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| Responding to Truss’s remarks that she was an attention seeker, Sturgeon told audience members you had to be a bit of an attention seeker as a politician to get your policies noticed. | Responding to Truss’s remarks that she was an attention seeker, Sturgeon told audience members you had to be a bit of an attention seeker as a politician to get your policies noticed. |
| She also hit out at the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Ruth Davidson, for entering the House of Lords. She said: “Ruth decided to retire from politics, but then it transpired she wasn’t really intending to retire from politics – she just wanted to continue without scrutiny and the tedious bit of having to put yourself forward for election. | She also hit out at the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Ruth Davidson, for entering the House of Lords. She said: “Ruth decided to retire from politics, but then it transpired she wasn’t really intending to retire from politics – she just wanted to continue without scrutiny and the tedious bit of having to put yourself forward for election. |
| “So all of the good bits of politics without the tough bit of getting elected. I don’t think that’s a particularly good thing to do.” | “So all of the good bits of politics without the tough bit of getting elected. I don’t think that’s a particularly good thing to do.” |
| Sturgeon took questions from some audience members who asked her if it was possible to have a “good-natured debate” about independence. | Sturgeon took questions from some audience members who asked her if it was possible to have a “good-natured debate” about independence. |
| “Of course it’s possible to have a good-natured, civilised debate about independence, but that requires all of us involved in that,” she said. “The only appropriate way to decide matters we disagree on is through democracy.” | “Of course it’s possible to have a good-natured, civilised debate about independence, but that requires all of us involved in that,” she said. “The only appropriate way to decide matters we disagree on is through democracy.” |
| This article was amended on 14 August 2022. There have been three prime ministers since Sturgeon became first minister, not four as stated in an earlier version. | This article was amended on 14 August 2022. There have been three prime ministers since Sturgeon became first minister, not four as stated in an earlier version. |