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Politicians across the spectrum have reacted angrily after Boris Johnson dismissed the return as “a disaster north of the border.”
During a Zoom call with around 60 Conservative MPs from the north on Monday night, the prime minister described the return as “Tony Blair’s biggest mistake.”
While Downing Street later emphasized that the comments referred to the mismanagement of the Scottish national party, Johnson’s comments will be seen as especially provocative with support for Scottish independence showing sustained leadership in polls throughout 2020, and the constant frustration of the Scottish and Welsh governments over the lack of communication from Westminster during the coronavirus pandemic.
Blair, the leading architect of decentralization, delivered his 1997 overt commitment to holding referendums, with Scotland and Wales voting for their own parliaments, and Northern Ireland trade unionists and nationalists forming a power-sharing coalition following the Good Friday agreement of 1998.
Scotland’s Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon responded on Twitter saying: “These comments from the prime minister are worth bookmarking for the next time Conservatives say they are not a threat to the powers of the Scottish Parliament or, more unbelievably. , who support the devolution of more powers … The only way to protect and strengthen @ScotParl is with independence. “
Nicola sturgeon
(@NicolaSturgeon)These PM comments are worth marking for the next time the Conservatives say they are not a threat to the powers of the Scottish Parliament or, more incredible, that they support the return of more powers. The only way to protect and strengthen @ScotParl it is independently. https://t.co/Hk7DqoFeuY
Johnson called MPs in Downing Street, where he isolates himself after coming into contact with an MP who later tested positive for coronavirus, as he tries to “reestablish” his leadership after a turbulent year of coronavirus and infighting on the number. 10..
The Conservative MPs he spoke to are part of the Northern Research Group (NRG), which was formed out of concerns that coronavirus lockdowns will unfairly harm the north of England.
Referring to expectations that the departure of aide Dominic Cummings last week would be a sign of a less abrasive conservative administration, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford tweeted: “Oh my gosh, so much for the new softer approach And respectful, well that hasn’t lasted [Johnson’s] The attitude explains the takeover of the internal market bill, the return that will dismantle our Parliament under attack. We can stop his wrecking ball, it’s called independence. “
Ian Murray, the shadow Labor Secretary of State for Scotland, insisted that “the return is one of the achievements Labor is most proud of.”
“This confirms that Boris Johnson does not believe in the return and would put the future of the UK at risk. Your government should have been working in partnership with delegate governments during this crisis. Instead, people across the UK have been paying the price for their failures. “
Scottish Labor’s Anas Sarwar, who returned to the Holyrood cabinet on Monday as shadow constitution minister, tweeted: “Boris Johnson has been a disaster, not a return. The truth is that it is the biggest threat to the UK. In the midst of a pandemic, when people’s lives and livelihoods are at risk, both governments should focus on bringing people together and helping us overcome this crisis. “
Anas sarwar
(@AnasSarwar)Boris Johnson has been a disaster, not a return.
The truth is that it is the biggest threat to the UK.
In the midst of a pandemic, when people’s lives and livelihoods are at risk, both governments should focus on bringing people together and helping us overcome this crisis. https://t.co/71jbueEH3G
A Conservative MP on Zoom’s call, who said Johnson labeled MPs in the NRG as his “praetorian guard,” told The Guardian: “[Johnson] He was in fantastic shape, he took the whole meeting on his feet. He was very animated, animated. He was clearly not a man in poor health. He said he wants us to open up as much as we can on December 2, but we have to acknowledge that [coronavirus] it was a dangerous and unpleasant disease that we needed to control.
“He said there are two ways: the continuous deployment of massive tests, second, of course, the vaccine. He said that we needed to put the vaccine in as many arms as possible.
“He was very positive about the northern economy and fully understood the need to level up. He was particularly optimistic about transportation and electronic infrastructure, calling them the great equalizers. “
A Downing Street source did not deny that Johnson had told MPs that the return had been a disaster in Scotland. “The prime minister has always supported return, but Tony Blair could not foresee the rise of separatists in Scotland,” the source said. “Devolution is great, but not when separatists and nationalists use it to divide the UK.”
The source said the prime minister had said that leaving the EU “means that we must strengthen and protect the UK economy with the [internal markets bill]”.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross, who has spoken out against Westminster policy on several occasions since his election in July, appeared to partly contradict Johnson, saying: “The return has not been a disaster. The SNP’s constant obsession with another referendum, over jobs, schools and everything else, has been a disaster. “
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