Sturgeon's shameless bid to woo Brussels: SNP leader sent 31 Christmas cards to EU chiefs

NICOLA Sturgeon has flooded EU Commission officials with more Christmas cards than their UK Government counterparts, the Express can reveal.

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Freedom of Information requests reveal the Scottish First Minister sent 29 cards to European Commission diplomats and politicians compared to just two cards to UK Government colleagues last year. Records reveal Ms Sturgeon sent cards to top diplomats including Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Head of the Taskforce for Relations with the United Kingdom Michel Barnier.

 

The Scottish First Minister also sent cards to the Prime Minister of Belgium and Iceland along with 58 members of the United States Congress.

German Europe Minister Michael Roth and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also received penned festive messages from the SNP leader.

Boris Johnson and Alister Jack were the only recipients of cards from the Scottish First Minister.

Michael Gove whom Ms Sturgeon had increased contact with during four nations discussions on tackling the COVID-19 pandemic was left off the list.

 

Nicola Sturgeon

Nicola Sturgeon's Christmas Card design for 2020 (Image: Getty/Scottish Government)

Ursula von der Leyen

Ursula von der Leyen received a card from Ms Sturgeon (Image: Getty)

Chancellor Rishi Sunak who allocated £14 billion in additional funding through the Barnett formula since the start of the pandemic, also didn't receive a card.

A similar pattern also occurred in 2019 with FOI data revealing 31 EU politicians and diplomats receiving cards from Ms Sturgeon, compared to just Mr Johnson for the UK Government.

Ms Sturgeon held a competition for Primary School children to design her annual "Christmas card from the First Minister" in 2020.

The winning entry, designed by ten-year-old Sophie Blackett from East Kilbride, included a drawing of a Christmas tree with a poem about the ups and downs of 2020.

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Michel Barnier

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier also received a card (Image: Getty)

It read: "2020, we cried, we clapped, we stayed at home, we baked, we home-schooled and painted rainbows, we stayed two-metres apart, we Zoomed, we locked down, we thanked our NHS and waved through windows, we did DIY, we wore masks, we lived in bubbles, we went on staycations, but most of all we made it through.”

Dean Lockhart, Scottish Conservative Constitution spokesman, said: “In what’s meant to be the season of goodwill, it seems Nicola Sturgeon was unable to muster any to send to members of the UK Government.

“However, it seems she had no hesitation racking up the airmail costs in sending cards in a bid woo her pals in Europe.

“It appears even when signing her Christmas cards, the First Minister couldn’t resist engaging in a petty bit of constitutional politics.”

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Dean Lockhart

Dean Lockhart claimed the FM was racking up the airmail costs (Image: Getty)

It comes as Ms Sturgeon begged the EU to “leave a light on” for Scotland to potentially rejoin the bloc if they were to become independent after a second referendum.

But a poll conducted by Opinium this month revealed only 47 percent of Scots wanted to rejoin the bloc.

Meanwhile, fourteen percent said they wanted a closer relationship while remaining out of the EU, 16 percent said they wanted a more distant relationship, while 12 percent said they were happy with the current arrangement of the UK Government conducting foreign relations for the UK.

Opinium surveyed 1,096 Scottish adults between March 11 and 16 with the company not conducting a Scottish opinion poll since the 2019 general election.

The SNP have been approached for comment.

 

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