LONDON (AP) — Scotland’s leader has defended the ban on nonessential travel between the country and the northwest English city of Manchester after its mayor lambasted the decision and called for compensation. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Monday that the ban on people from Manchester entering Scotland was taken on public health grounds. New coronavirus infections around the Greater Manchester area have been rising rapidly in recent weeks as a result of the delta variant first identified in India. Sturgeon, the leader of the Scottish National Party which wants to take Scotland out of the U.K., suggested that the Greater Manchester mayor, one of the highest-profile politicians in the Labour Party, was trying to play politics.
