BORIS Johnson appeared to signal a new approach towards Scotland as he wrote last night to Nicola Sturgeon congratulating her on the SNP Holyrood election victory and inviting her to a special UK summit to discuss and plan recovery from the pandemic.
The letter suggested a softer stance from the Prime Minister who did not travel to Scotland during the election campaign amid Tory fears over his unpopularity.
In his correspondence he did not mention an independence referendum – which he has repeatedly said he would not agree to – and instead indicated that he wished to work with the new Scottish Government and the other devolved administrations.
“I congratulate you on your success in the Scottish Parliament election, in anticipation of your re-appointment as First Minister,” he said.
“I believe passionately that the interests of people across the UK and in particular the people of Scotland are best served when we work together.
“We have shown that through the vaccine roll-out.
“The UK Government’s ability to procure vaccines at scale has benefitted people in all parts of our country.”
He added: “Along with countries around the world, the UK faces challenges unprecedented in our history.
“As we continue to chart our way out of the acute phase of the Covid pandemic, we must look towards recovery.
“This will be a difficult journey.”
He invited Sturgeon to join him, members of his government, the First Minister of Wales and First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland at a summit meeting to “discuss our shared challenges and how we can work together in the coming months and years to overcome them”.
READ MORE: Tactical Unionism, Alba, and social media: Inside the SNP election campaign
Scotland Secretary Alister Jack released a statement following the SNP’s election win.
“I look forward to working closely with the new Scottish Government on our vital work to overcome the virus and then recover fully from the pandemic,” he said.
“We are saving lives with our successful UK-wide vaccine programme, and taking steps towards getting our lives back to normal.
“But we now have a huge amount to do to recover from this health and economic emergency.
He added: “We need to get people back into work, businesses back on their feet, and our economy growing again.
“We need to tackle the backlogs in our health services, in our courts, and our young people need to catch up on their missed education.
“We must not allow ourselves to be distracted – Covid recovery must be the sole priority of Scotland’s two governments.”
The SNP won an emphatic victory in the elections.
They did not gain an overall majority but took 64 seats in Thursday’s vote – 62 in constituencies and one on the Highlands and Islands and another in the South Scotland regional list – one shy of a majority, but well ahead of the Tories on 31 seats.
In a televised victory speech, Sturgeon said another vote was “the will of the country”, adding: “It is a commitment made to the people by a majority of the MSPs who have been elected to our national Parliament.
“It is the will of the country.”
The SNP and the Greens want a second referendum within the next session of parliament with Sturgeon saying she would hope it could be held before the end of 2023 so long as the pandemic is over.
But Johnson has repeatedly said he would refuse his consent for one – even suggesting a second vote should not take place until 2055.
Earlier yesterday the UK Government showed little softening in their stance towards agreeing a second independence referendum.
Environment Secretary George Eustice called the plan for a new vote “irresponsible”.
He told Times Radio: “We think this is a complete distraction.
“It would be irresponsible to have another divisive referendum and another bout of constitutional debate at a time when we are charting our way out of this pandemic and when we’ve got to really focus on economic recovery.
“We think it’s completely the wrong thing to be doing.
“We had a referendum just a little over five years ago and that settled the issue.”
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