Boris Johnson’s visit to Scotland to bolster support for union labelled ‘futile’ – follow live

The SNP have shared tweet juxtaposing an image of Boris Johnson getting off a plane as he arrives in Scotland with the government’s coronavirus slogan: “Stay at home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.”

Scotland’s R number has dropped below one as the country has made “progress in suppressing the virus,” Nicola Sturgeon has said.

Speaking ahead of First Minister’s Questions, Ms Sturgeon told MSPs: “That is not unexpected given the declining cases that we have seen recently but it is very welcome and it provides further evidence that the lockdown restrictions are working.

“That said, case numbers remain very high and our NHS remains under severe pressure.

“The number of people in hospital with Covid-19, for example, is still approximately 30 per cent higher than at the peak last spring, although we are starting to see a welcome stabilisation in those figures.”

Prime minister Boris Johnson has been looking around the Lighthouse Laboratory, used for processing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) samples for coronavirus, during a visit to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus in Glasgow this morning.

SNP Commons spokesman Tommy Sheppard has said Boris Johnson is “more than capable of patronising us from his office in Whitehall”, as the prime minister visits Scotland today.

He told MPs: “I would like to ask for a debate on the role of government ministers and the prime minister in particular in setting an example by following the rules which they make for others during the lockdown.

“I know of course that every time the prime minister opens his mouth on the subject, his ill-informed views drive support for Scottish independence upwards and I know also that his stage-managed visits to selected Scottish supporters make the SNP’s case for it.

“So in normal circumstances, he would be most welcome, but these are not normal circumstances. We are telling millions of people not to leave their homes and only to make essential journeys.

“The prime minister is more than capable of patronising us from his office in Whitehall. So what exactly is so essential about his thousand mile-round trip to Livingston today?

“This gallivanting is a blatant piece of electioneering while most are focused on fighting Covid. But the real tragedy is that his actions will undermine the public health message which we all need to succeed.”

Jacob Rees-Mogg has branded Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon “Moanalot” following her comments that Boris Johnson’s trip to Scotland is not an essential journey.

He told the Commons: “Well, I used to think that Moanalot was a fictional character, but it turns out it’s actually the first minister of Scotland.

“All Ms Sturgeon can ever do is moan a lot. She moans when distinguished royal personages visit Scotland, she moans when the prime minister visits Scotland, people doing their duty, doing their job.

“And the visit to Livingston is something we should be proud of as a nation, visiting a vaccine factory, a factory that has made enormous strides to develop, produce a vaccine that is waiting approval to help in the fight against Covid.

“The prime minister is doing his job and ‘Moanalot’ will have something to moan about in early February when (Alex) Salmond gives evidence to a committee of inquiry in the Scottish parliament and we find out all that is going on up north to the disadvantage of the Scottish people led by a hopeless administration.”

The prime minister will use his visit today to argue the Union has been integral in tackling the pandemic – administering the Covid-19 vaccine, providing coronavirus testing and giving economic support.

His visit comes days after the SNP unveiled its roadmap to independence.

The party has said that should there be a pro-independence majority elected in May’s Holyrood election, it will announce plans to hold another referendum even if Westminster again denies permission, and dare the UK government to challenge it in court.

In the last 20 opinion polls released, support for Scottish independence was in the majority, when undecided voters were removed – with one putting support as high as 58 per cent.

However, first minister Nicola Sturgeon has warned against complacency among her supporters, with the task heading into a referendum to win the votes of those in the undecided column – which can fluctuate between 7 per cent and 13 per cent.

SNP deputy leader Keith Brown has said the prime minister’s Scotland trip is evidence he is in a “panic” about the prospect of another referendum.

The MSP said: “Clearly, Boris Johnson is rattled. By branding this campaign trip as ‘essential’, this is clearly a prime minister in panic, who knows the Tories are losing the argument on independence.

“Twenty polls in a row have shown that a majority of voters believe Scotland’s future should be in Scotland’s hands – not Boris Johnson’s.”

A survey by Panelbase in August suggested support for Scottish independence had reached a record high, with 55 per cent in favour of breaking with the union, and 45 per cent against – an exact reversal of the 2014 referendum result.

More detail on the results of that poll can be found here:

SNP candidate Jim Fairlie SNP has said the prime minister’s trip to Scotland is “crass” and “irresponsible”.

He wrote on Twitter: “This is utter nonsense from Gove. Johnson’s visit is nothing more than political campaigning ahead of Mays elections for HR.  

“It’s crass irresponsible and sets the wrong example of what’s essential. He’s trying to bolster his vote in Scotland, let’s make sure it backfires.”

The SNP’s Alyn Smith MP has claimed the prime minister’s trip to Scotland is a “politically-motivated stunt”.

“Midway through a pandemic, when you really would have thought Mr Johnson’s got other stuff to do, we do think this is an ill-advised jaunt and he really shouldn’t be undertaking it,” he told BBC Breakfast.

He added: “We’ve advised against all but essential travel and it’s up to him to decide whether his trip is essential or not but I have to say there is a lot of resistance to this in Scotland.

“This is a politically-motivated trip, a politically-motivated stunt that he’s going to tell us what’s good for us midway through a pandemic.

“The prime minister doesn’t just travel on his own, he travels with a big entourage and he’s going to travel several hundred miles to come and make a political speech he could have made from elsewhere and we think it’s a bad idea.”