PM’S Union unit chief leaves less than a fortnight after taking on the position
Surf ’s up: Board returned after incredible journey
A surfer has been reunited with his surfboard in “perfect condition” a month after it was lost at sea and drifted more than 400 miles away.
Lee Brogan said he had been "wiped out" by a massive wave while surfing off the Yorkshire coast in November and watched in agony as it disappeared into the ocean.
Hehadgivenuponeverbeing reunited with his ten-year-old board until a couple stumbled upon it – some 400 miles away on the Shetland Islands.
Stephanie Riise, 22, and Jake Anderson, 23, spotted the board while on a walk on December 28.
They took to Facebook and when Mr Brogan responded they arranged to have the board returned to Yorkshire.
The Prime Minister’s main adviser on fighting Scottish independence has quit his role less than a fortnight after being appointed as head of the Union unit.
Vote Leave veteran Oliver Lewis, who worked with Boris Johnson on Brexit campaigns, is reported to have said his position was being made “untenable” by others in Number 10.
Mr Lewis, an ally of the prime minister's former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, took his position in Downing Street’s Union unit following the exit of former Scottish Conservative MP Luke Graham earlier this month.
His departure, after less than two weeks in the position, comes with May’s Holyrood elections now just around the corner.
In response to news of Mr Lewis’s departure, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: "Disunity in the Union unit. Or maybe just despair at realising how threadbare the case for it is."
Downing Street declined to comment on staffing matters following news of Mr Lewis’s exit.
The SNP’S Westminster deputy leader Kirsten Oswald claimed Mr Johnson’s “taxpayer-funded anti-independence campaign" is “completely falling apart”. She said: “Oliver Lewis becomes the second Head of the Tory Union Unit to quit in a fortnight.
"As support for independence grows, the Tories are losing advisers like rats on a sinking ship. People in Scotland
have a right to determine their own future in a post-pandemic referendum.
"The issue at the election in May will be this: who has the right to decide what sort of country we should be after the pandemic – the people of Scotlandorborisjohnson?theonly way to ensure Scotland's future is in Scotland's hands is with both votes SNP."
Despite the ousting of former
Ochil and South Perthshire MP Mr Graham earlier this month – said to be the last Scot in the unit – allies said there were still Scottishpeopleinvolvedincludingthechancelloroftheduchy of Lancaster Michael Gove.
Downingstreethaspreviously declined to answer the question when asked if there were any Scots left working within the unit. The Prime Minister’sspokesmantoldthescotsimportance
man:"therearescottishpeople workingonunionissuesacross the government."
The Union unit, which was set up shortly after Boris Johnson became Prime Minister in July 2019, aims to develop policies which help strengthen the Ukandfocuseson“makingthe benefits of the union clear, visible and understood.”
Up until March last year, it comprised just one special
adviserwithapart-timeofficial. It had been expected Mr Lewis would lead a rapid expansion of the unit, with job adverts for four new roles already live, and aspirations for it to reach up to 30 people.
A UK government source told The Scotsman last week: “It’s not about the short term of this May’s elections, but looking ahead to strengthening the Union by underlining the
of the NHS and our interwoven economies to all parts of the UK.
"Theunionunitwillberamping up in size and effort, making the case for the UK government’s crucial importance to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.”
"Recovering from the pandemic will be the focus .”