Crabbit? Boris was positively bouncing

HENRY DEEDES

THE whole of the UK will ‘bounce back stronger together’ following the coronavirus crisis, Boris Johnson has declared.

The Prime Minister used a high-profile visit to Scotland to play down the differences in approach between parts of the Union and insisted he still believed all four nations can come together in the wake of the health and economic crisis.

He held back from a public spat with Nicola Sturgeon despite the First Minister earlier criticising him for ‘crowing’ about the value of the Union during the pandemic.

Instead, he said any differences between the approaches taken during the crisis were only down to ‘presentation’.

He chose to come to Scotland to mark his one-year anniversary as Prime Minister, making visits to Orkney and the RAF bases at Kinloss and Lossiemouth in Moray, where he highlighted how the Treasury has protected jobs and businesses and the armed forces have helped transport patients. Mr Johnson said the pandemic has ‘exemplified’ some of the key strengths of the Union.

He said: ‘What came home to me today is how we as one country can bounce back stronger together through growth deals and through ensuring we get through a crisis which is not only medical but also, I’m afraid, economic. And that’s what all this is about.’

He dismissed Miss Sturgeon’s claims that he is seeking to politicise the pandemic by talking up the benefits of the Union, saying: ‘It is very, very important to look at the ways in which the whole of the UK can bounce back stronger together.’

Mr Johnson insisted he did not want to criticise any decisions made by Miss Sturgeon, and instead wanted to talk about how ‘we are doing things as one UK’.

He said: ‘That is the best way to do things and I think it is a great thing for our country.

‘When you look at what is really happening, the steps the country as a whole is taking, the unity and the shared approach is much more significant than the differences.’

On the recent polls showing an increase in support for independence under his leadership and higher popularity ratings for Miss Sturgeon during the pandemic, he said: ‘Whatever the superficial political differences and the differences in presentation, which may have played one way or the other, the reality is this country is tackling the coronavirus crisis – has done and will do – with much more that unites us than divides us. That is what is going to continue to be our approach. What I want to talk about is the incredible opportunities that the whole of the UK has to build back better and to build back better together, and to have a green recovery.

‘There is much more that unites us than divides us.’

Mr Johnson, who was greeted by dozens of pro-independence protesters in Orkney and at Kinloss and Lossiemouth, ruled out any prospect of granting another referendum.

He highlighted the £50million awarded for the growth deal in the Northern and Western Isles and in a further boost, the UK Government

yesterday confirmed that it will provide at least an additional £1.9billion of funding to the Scottish Government this year – in addition to the £4.6billion for fighting the coronavirus pandemic handed over since March.

The unprecedented financial guarantee will help the SNP to prepare its budget for the months ahead. Steve Barclay, chief secretary to the Treasury, said the funding is ‘yet another sign of our support for the Union’.

Mr Johnson also hosted a private virtual meeting for around 600 Scottish Conservative members. During the 45-minute call, he told them the UK Government is no longer going to be ‘neutral’ on the Union and will actively promote all the good things it does for the people of Scotland.

There is said to have been ‘lots of enthusiasm about Scottish Conservative chances’ in next year’s Holyrood elections.

One Tory activist who was on the call said the Prime Minister criticised Miss Sturgeon for her politicising of issues during the pandemic and said the SNP is spreading ‘lies’ about Brexit.

Speaking to journalists, Mr Johnson said he hoped that ‘unjustified’ tariffs on Scotch whisky by

Donald Trump’s administration will be scrapped after Brexit.

He said a good trade deal could ensure tariffs are axed, adding: ‘If we can get a good free trade deal with the United States then logically they should disappear.’

During his visit to Orkney, the Prime Minister met crab fishermen and cheesemongers and insisted they can benefit from leaving the European Union.

Asked about Michel Barnier’s ‘gloomy’ assessment and criticism of Britain’s negotiating position on fishing, Mr Johnson said: ‘There’s every reason for us to be very optimistic about getting a deal. But

‘More that unites us than divides us’

I think, as our chief negotiator David Frost said, there are some things that we can’t comprise over.

‘People understand the arguments about the level playing field, about fisheries. And there’s no point in leaving the EU if you remain locked in the lunar pool of the EU and you are unable to do things differently and everybody understands that, the EU also understands that. Michel also understands that.

‘On fisheries, let’s be absolutely clear, our friends, they’ve looked at the full implications of what we are saying and I think they are thinking, “My goodness that’s quite a tall order”. But actually it’s the right thing for the UK.

‘In the early 1970s we basically handed over control of our fisheries. We gave up our fisheries in the last throes of the Heath negotiations in a way that permanently disadvantaged UK fishers and Scottish fishers, as well. Now is the time to change that and I’m sure there’s a good deal to be done.’

Mr Johnson’s spokesman said the Prime Minister’s view is that all parts of the UK are following the same route out of lockdown, just at different speeds.

Yesterday was Mr Johnson’s fifth visit to Scotland since becoming

Prime Minister, but he opted against meeting Miss Sturgeon.

During her daily media briefing yesterday, the First Minister said she would try to ‘work collaboratively’ with all other parts of the

‘Optimistic about getting a deal’

UK but will be ‘assertive on our ability to take our own decisions’.

She said the UK Government support has been ‘very welcome’ but branded it ‘borrowed money’, adding: ‘Scottish taxpayers will pay the cost of that borrowing, just in the same way as taxpayers across the UK will. It’s not some kind of favour that has been done.

‘If the Scottish Government held the borrowing powers we would be able to provide that support directly.’

On Mr Johnson’s claims that the virus pandemic has shown the might of the Union, she said: ‘I don’t think any of us should be championing and celebrating a pandemic that has taken thousands of lives as some example of the pre-existing political case we want to make. This has been a heartbreaking crisis that we are not out of yet. Too many people have died and all of us have a really solemn responsibility to focus on and to get our countries through.’

During yesterday’s visit, Mr Johnson also laughed off questions about donations to Tory MPs from individuals or companies with Russian links, saying he was ‘the first Prime Minister of this country in the last few years anyway to have a Russian name’.

He said: ‘Donations from foreigners are illegal and of course they should be handed back.

‘But that, I don’t think, is what we are talking about here.’