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Boris Johnson has said that arguments over a referendum on Scottish independence were “completely irrelevant” as the UK battled the coronavirus pandemic.
The British prime minister insisted again that the 2014 vote was a once-in-a-generation referendum and that there was no advantage in “pointless constitutional disputes”.
Amid signs of growing support for independence and ahead of the May elections in Holyrood, Johnson used his visit to Scotland to highlight the nation’s contribution to the UK-wide fight against Covid-19.
Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Johnson’s visit was “not essential” during the current lockdowns, arguing that politicians have a “duty to lead by example” as the public lives under strict restrictions.
Scotland’s police confirmed that they had received a “small number” of complaints about the prime minister’s visit, but added: “This is a working visit in his official capacity as prime minister and we are monitoring the event appropriately.”
Johnson suggested that people should focus on “the issues that really matter.”
“I think jobs, the educational performance of the Scottish national government I don’t think has been brilliant,” he said. “His performance in fighting crime, on drugs, those are the things that I think people should focus on.
“But, above all, in fighting this pandemic and coming back together stronger.
“I have to say that I believe that the endless talks about a referendum, without a clear description of what the constitutional situation would be after that referendum, are completely irrelevant now to the concerns of the majority of the people who, I think, want us to overcome this. pandemic and going through it hard together. “
He told reporters that “the same people” who wanted independence “also said just a few years ago, in 2014, that this was a once in a generation event.”
“I’m inclined to stick with what they said last time,” Johnson said.
When asked whether he would boycott a referendum held without the consent of the UK government, Johnson sidestepped the question, saying, “My goal is to defeat the pandemic.”
He added that “we really don’t know what that referendum would aim to achieve, we don’t know what the meaning would be: what happens to the army, what happens to the crown, what happens to the pound, what happens to the Foreign Office … nobody It will tell us what this is all about. “
Johnson donned personal protective equipment during a visit to the Lighthouse Laboratory on the campus of Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, where coronavirus tests are processed.
He then came across troops setting up a vaccination center in the Castlemilk area of the city, bumping their elbows to salute some of the soldiers.
The prime minister also visited the Valneva laboratory in Livingston, West Lothian, where experts are working on a coronavirus vaccine.
In Westminster there is growing concern about support for Scottish independence.
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer backed the prime minister’s visit and insisted he had a right to see what was happening everywhere in the UK.
Concerns have been raised that Johnson is not the best figure to defend the Union, with polls suggesting that support has risen amid a backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit, a campaign spearheaded by the prime minister. , while Scotland supported remaining in the EU.
SNP Vice President Keith Brown said the prime minister’s trip is evidence that he is “panicking” at the prospect of another referendum.
The MSP said: “Clearly, Boris Johnson is baffled. By calling this campaign trip ‘essential’, this is clearly a panicked prime minister, who knows that the Conservatives are losing the argument on independence.
“Twenty polls in a row have shown that the majority of voters believe that Scotland’s future should be in the hands of Scotland, not Boris Johnson.”
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