He argued that the Tory leadership contest made independence “essential”, arguing that whoever succeeds Boris Johnson as Prime Minister will take the party and the country to the right. Ms Sturgeon’s super sponsor scheme allowed refugees to name the Scottish Government as a sponsor under the UK’s Homes for Ukraine scheme, rather than having to be matched with individuals. Asked four months ago if she intended to take in a Ukrainian, a Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “If needed, the First Minister would be willing to play her part in offering asylum.” But on Thursday she refused to commit to inviting anyone to stay in the large Glasgow home she shares with her husband, Peter Murrell, the SNP chief executive. He said: “I have always said and I have said again that if this is right, I will always play my part. “I think I’ve also said that I’m not sure living with the First Minister, for someone seeking asylum, given the scrutiny and publicity around it, would be something people would want to do.” She said her government was trying to move people from temporary to permanent housing and “the pause will allow us to do that and hopefully in the coming months we will shelter even more people.” Ms Sturgeon claimed Scotland had taken in 7,000 refugees, more than double the 3,000 originally promised, and that this was 20% of the UK total. But this appears to be due to the super sponsor scheme and far fewer Scottish households (one in 1,250) have offered to open their homes compared to their English counterparts (one in 700).
