PM to ‘park’ Cabinet on Sturgeon’s doorstep
BORIS Johnson will show his determination to save the Union by holding Cabinet meetings on Nicola Sturgeon’s doorstep in Edinburgh.
Number 10 confirmed last night that the Prime Minister and his top team will use a new, purpose-built Cabinet meeting room a stone’s throw from the SNP First Minister’s own offices.
The move – along with similar plans for Cabinet meetings in Wales and Northern Ireland – is designed to show Mr Johnson’s commitment to preventing the break- up of the UK.
Sources last night suggested that it would be the first- ever full Cabinet meeting held in the Scottish capital, and the plan comes amid mounting Tory fears that Mr Johnson’s errors in the fight against coronavirus have boosted the Scottish government’ s standing and the SNP’s campaign for independence.
The purpose-built Cabinet room has been created at Edinburgh’s new Queen Elizabeth House, which is set to open this autumn, close to Ms Sturgeon’ s St Andrew’ s House headquarters.
The plan for the Cabinet to use the new building was last night billed as part of a wider strategy to show the UK Government is at the heart of public life in Scotland.
A Government source said: ‘Scotland has two governments and it’s absolutely right that the UK Government should be visible and meeting in Scotland.’
And a No 10 source said Ministers planned to hold meetings in all four nations of the UK as a ‘sign of our commitment to the Union’.
Senior Scottish Tory Murdo Fraser hailed the move as a ‘ great opportunity for the UK and Scottish governments to work together’.
Last week Mr Johnson ordered Ministers back to Westminster for top-level talks about the SNP surge in the polls.
And then, in his first visit North of the border since the Election, he highlighted the importance of a unified UK in recovering from the shattering economic impact of Covid.
Ms Sturgeon responded by accusing him of trying to use the crisis ‘as some kind of political weapon’.
‘UK Government should be visible in Scotland’