ABOUT 40 English local leaders have written to the Prime Minister asking him to “save the United Kingdom”.
Support for Scottish independence is at record levels, sitting as high as 58% in recent polls.
The SNP are also on track to secure a majority at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, with their manifesto set to include a commitment to a new referendum.
Independence support has been increasing since the beginning of the year, when the UK left the EU and the transition period started. Some 62% of Scots voted to Remain in 2016 and recent polls show support for the EU north of the Border has not changed since then.
READ MORE: Scottish independence: Keir Starmer's ‘devo-max’ plan blasted as ‘The Vow 2.0’
The letter’s signatories – including Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham as well as the mayors of the Liverpool and Sheffield city regions – told Boris Johnson to look into the constitutional status-quo.
Data shows Johnson is increasing support for independence among Scots. Just last month the Tory leader found himself in hot water when it was leaked that he called devolution a “disaster” during a Zoom call with MPs.
Former prime minister Gordon Brown and ex-LibDem leader Menzies Campbell also signed the letter.
It says increasing numbers of Scots are “losing faith” in the Union and Covid-19 has made “pervasive pessimism about our national unity and national decline” worse.
The leaders added: “The Union in your care is important and precious, and we need you to protect it."
They said generally there should be more devolved power across the UK.
It comes as Labour leader Keir Starmer is set to make a major speech on “devolution and the future of Scotland in a modern United Kingdom” this week.
On Friday he is due to deliver the John P Mackintosh Memorial Lecture exploring the idea of a devo-max option for Scotland.
The proposals were slammed as “The Vow 2.0” with influential SNP activist Julie Hepburn commenting: “Here we go again - Labour scrambling for compromise positions to placate Scotland, rather than working on policies to *serve* Scotland.”
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