Boris Johnson takes his fight against Scottish independence to Scotland

He pointed out how his government, faster than anywhere else in the EU, had helped export vaccines across the UK, including Scotland, and made funds available to support public services and subsidize thousands of jobs since the crisis began.

But a majority of Scots now prefer independence over the partial autonomy it has promoted, according to a series of opinion polls, in part through the perception that the Scottish Government has handled the pandemic better than the London government. The move predicts what could be the biggest crisis Johnson’s government has faced since leaving the EU.

The Scottish leader, Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon, has benefited from strong approval ratings, thanks in part to her clear messages about the dangers of Covid and her willingness to close businesses and schools to keep infections and mortality rates lower than in other parts of the country. country. United Kingdom

Johnson said the independence debate was an unnecessary distraction and that an earlier vote in 2014, in which Scots preferred to stay with the UK, should be seen as a one-off event.

“I think endless talk of a referendum without any clear description of what the constitutional situation would be after the referendum is now completely irrelevant to the concerns of most people,” he said while launching a new vaccine in Livingston, east. of Glasgow, visited. “We do not really know what the referendum would achieve.”

Britain’s former chief of staff, George Osborne, said earlier this month that no British leader wanted to be the prime minister to see Scotland leave the 300-year-old union with England. The natural resources, universities and exports are an important part of the British economy and its cultural traditions.

The departure of Scotland would also damage the image of the United Kingdom at a time when he is trying to assert himself as an influential voice on the world stage after leaving the bloc.

However, the issue is not going to go away. Many of those who voted for staying in the UK in 2014 changed their minds and opted for independence. Michael Sturrock is among them. He launched a website called NoToYes to get other voters thinking about voting.

“It’s about our democratic right to make the choice,” said another pro-British convert, Mark McGeoghan.

The next bottleneck comes in May’s election to the Scottish Parliament. Me. Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party appears on the right track to secure a majority of seats and has vowed to hold a referendum.

But London’s refusal to play along offers a mystery: how to deliver a legitimate and binding voice that will satisfy the restless members of her party, while also satisfying the EU, where members like Spain concern its own independence movements and may object to an independent Scotland rejoining the bloc.

Mrs. Sturgeon tried to kill Mr. Johnson agreed to a new independence vote, quoting Scottish national poet Robert Burns over the weekend as calling him a “winding, temporary beast”. Johnson’s remarks Thursday suggest it had little effect.

Her current support plan for her party is to propose a referendum to the Scottish Parliament after the May election and see if Johnson’s government gives permission for a legal challenge. Eventually, it could end up in the UK Supreme Court, ruling on constitutional issues between Scotland and the rest of the UK, said Aileen McHarg, a professor at Durham University and an expert in constitutional law.

“It shows the Scottish leadership’s determination that, although an independence referendum is reached, it is done through a legal process, either by consensus or by the courts,” she said. “They are very aware that if they follow a different approach and apply to the EU, the process will be vetoed.”

If the court rules that Scotland can hold a referendum, it will for Mr. Johnson be more difficult to object to.

It could be a final dice for Scotland’s independence movement, at least until there is a change in sentiment in London. People who are familiar with me. Sturgeon says her primary strategy is to shame the UK into allowing a referendum on independence again by getting a big mandate at the ballot box in May – something Johnson wants to prevent.

Write to James Hookway by [email protected]