Boris Johnson rules out new Scottish independence vote on pandemic visit
- The PM is facing criticism for making the trip during the coronavirus lockdown, with some police reports lodged
- Polls show Scots overwhelmingly think their leader, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, has done a better job at handling the pandemic than Johnson
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday rejected calls for a second referendum on independence in Scotland, building his case for a continued United Kingdom on the joint effort to combat the coronavirus outbreak.
Johnson praised Britain’s collective response to the health crisis as he toured a vaccine plant in Livingston, west of Edinburgh.
“I think what people want to see is us bouncing back more strongly together,” he told reporters, calling the clamour for a new vote “completely irrelevant” given concerns about the pandemic.
“I don’t see the advantage of getting lost in pointless constitutional wrangling when, after all, we had a referendum not so very long ago,” he added, referring to a 2014 vote when Scotland opted to remain in the United Kingdom.
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Boris Johnson takes ‘full responsibility’ as UK reports 100,000 Covid-19 deaths
Johnson also travelled to a laboratory processing Covid-19 tests and a vaccination centre being set up by the British Army in the western city of Glasgow.