BORIS Johnson has been hailed as the Yes campaign’s “greatest recruiting sergeant” after he claimed there is no border between Scotland and England.
SNP MP Pete Wishart – who suggested there is a border “between Boris Johnson and reality” – condemned the Prime Minister for politicising potential public health precautions and said he was driving Scots towards independence.
The Tory leader was also challenged to engage with the Scottish Government on the constitutional debate and make the case for "Brexit Britain" – or face a drawn out battle.
Wishart also clarified this morning that there are no SNP plans to withdraw MPs from Westminster if the UK Government continues to refuse to grant a Section 30 order for indyref2.
“There’s no way on earth we’d leave our constituents at the mercy of the Westminster Tories,” he told Sky News.
READ MORE: Pete Wishart: We should ask EU to sanction indyref2 if Tories refuse
On a second Scottish independence referendum, Wishart explained: “I think for Boris Johnson and the Westminster Tories, there’s two ways they could look at this.
"One, they can engage with the majority mandate from the Scottish people as expressed the next Holyrood election and … put the case for the Union and tell us why we should remain in Brexit Britain.”
If the UK Government refuses to engage in the constitutional debate, Wishart warned it would be “a long drawn out process which will do nobody any good whatsoever”.
Asked about suggestions the Scottish Government would consider border checks on visitors from England if Covid-19 cases rise south of the Border, Wishart said it would be irresponsible not to do so.
“If there was a clinical and medical case for us to look at some of these issues with cross border traffic, then it's incumbent upon us to do that. There is no current plans and arrangements to have any sort of thing like a border coming in between Scotland and England.
“But if there's some medical and clinical case for that, it's incumbent upon any administration to look at that to ensure that we look after the safety of the people who live in that country, primarily above everything else.”
FACT CHECK: Boris Johnson's bonkers claim about the Scottish Border
Wishart then addressed Johnson’s false claim at Prime Minister’s Questions that there is no border between England and Scotland.
The SNP MP said: “Boris Johnson ridiculously trying to politicise and constitutionalise this yesterday was just singularly absurd.
“That type of remark just drives more and more people to the cause of Scottish independence. So in some regards you say keep going Boris, you’re our greatest recruiting sergeant.”
A Number 10 spokesman said after PMQs that Johnson was trying to make the point that there is no “border infrastructure” between Scotland and England.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel