NICOLA Sturgeon has been criticised for a calling Boris Johnson “Boris” and not “Prime Minister” during the Government’s emergency Corba commitee.

One person who has attended recent meetings of the emergency UK Government Civil Contingencies Committee moaned to The Spectator that the SNP leader's lack of deference was her “trying to show that the First Minister of Scotland is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom’s equal".

They whined that Johnson’s determination “that the UK must move as one” has “given the devolved administrations too much leverage in Cobra meetings".

Sturgeon and her counterparts from Wales and Northern Ireland were involved in last Monday’s Cobra meeting, where the decision was taken to move the UK into lockdown. 

The meeting was chaired by the Prime Minister.

It’s not known who the conservative magazine’s source is, but they also complained that the Scottish Government “tries to outflank [the UK Government] on the hard-line positions”. 

SNP strategist Ross Colquohon tweeted:"I'd say it's not difficult to outflank the UK Government's sloth-like pace in dealing with this global crisis."