Ministers come out fighting for the Union

SENIOR ministers have fired the first shots in a campaign to save the Union.

The SNP has targeted a new Brexit White Paper as a battleground over how powers returning from Brussels will be divided up.

But Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove insisted constitutional grievances risk damaging Scotland’s recovery from Covid-19.

While the rest of the UK took a bigger hit to GDP during the peak of the pandemic, new figures show it is also recovering faster, with growth in May at 1.8 per cent compared with 1.5 per cent north of the Border.

Mr Gove said: ‘SNP politicians appear to have decided that it’s in their political interests to start another stooshie rather than help rebuild the economy.’

His words came as it was revealed Boris Johnson is convening a ‘council of war’ to counter the results of recent polls showing support for independence edging up.

Scottish Tory director Mark McInnes will this week address senior Cabinet figures to set out a strategy to blunt the SNP’s expected charge to victory in next year’s Holyrood election. It is expected to be used as a platform for increasing pressure for a second referendum on separation.

Mr Johnson is said to be concerned at how the polls have depicted growing approval for Nicola Sturgeon’s leadership.

New data from political consultants will highlight areas where the Unionist message is failing to cut through. But the most immediate assault on the UK centres on the White Paper on the internal market.

When the Brexit transition period ends in December, powers on areas such as pesticide use and food standards will be returned to Britain.

The Government wants to legislate on agreed common frameworks with Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast to make it easier to sign international trade deals.

However, areas such as agriculture, fisheries and the environment are devolved and it is feared that too much divergence will end up entangling cross-Border commerce in red tape and unnecessary costs.

Mr Gove accused the SNP of confecting grievances to incite separatist sentiment.

He wrote: ‘The Covid-19 crisis... has reminded us of the precious things we are lucky to share. It’s that spirit of sharing – of ideas, of money and of sacrifice – that is at the heart of our United Kingdom. It has never been more relevant than now.’

He added: ‘Some SNP politicians have been trying this week to argue... that Holyrood is actually losing powers at the end of this year. Despite repeated questioning, no one in the SNP can point to a single Holyrood power that is going.’

But the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford insisted: ‘The White Paper is nothing short of a blueprint for the biggest and most blatant power grab since the Scottish people voted overwhelmingly for the Scottish parliament in 1997.’

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