A satirical paragraph about how Scotland would not leave the UK, even if the government were to “clean up the highlands again”, is falsely attributed to Boris Johnson on social media sites.
The passage has its origins in a satirical article (here) on the pro-Scottish independence newspaper The National, entitled: “We have to tax the unarmed Jocks of the grizzly monkey until they squeak!”
The piece pretends to show the text of a speech on tax policy by Boris Johnson to the 1922 committee, the parliamentary group of the Conservative Party in the British House of Assembly.
At one point, the text says that it would be good to treat the Scots badly because it would not affect a victory in the Tory effect. The piece reads: “For thirty years we have been sucking all their oil under their drunken noses without them noticing. And even when they found out, they still voted to stay in the Union. I will therefore no longer have this frightening matter about my tax proposals that threaten the Union. We all know that we can turn Loch Lomond into a sewage treatment plant and clean up the Highlands again, and they still want to hold on to our hooded tails. ‘
An image showing a copy of the text on a photo of Boris Johnson was shared on social media without any indication that it was intended as a satire (here).
The original article on The National’s website now begins with: “For the avoidance of doubt, this piece is a parody.”
VERDICT
Satire. A quote falsely attributed to Boris Johnson has its origins in a pro-Scottish independence newspaper as a satirical piece.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.