BORIS Johnson’s flying visit to Scotland to drum up support for the Union backfired after people complained about his visit to the police claiming he had breached a travel ban in place to curb the spread of the virus and he faced cross party fury and criticism from wider society for the trip.
Police Scotland made the announcement as the Prime Minister visited a vaccination centre in Castlemilk, Glasgow after arriving in the city’s airport in a military jet.
His trip came two days after the UK passed the milestone of 100,000 deaths to Covid, the largest number of fatalities to the Covid in Europe and representing one of the highest death rates to the virus in the world.
Johnson has faced substantial criticism from scientists over his handling of the pandemic, but has insisted he and his government "did all it could".
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Currently all travel between Scotland and the rest of the UK is banned unless the person has a “reasonable excuse”.
Under the law people are allowed to travel for work, but only if it cannot be done from home.
Nicola Sturgeon questioned whether the PM’s visit was an “essential” journey on Wednesday when she spoke at the Scottish Government's daily coronavirus briefing.
Roz Foyer, the general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) was among the critics. “Shocked that 10 Downing Street think it’s a good idea to send Boris to Scotland.
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"Apart from the very obvious safety concerns of this non-essential visit there is a huge risk of him damaging the Union further with every word he speaks while here. #owngoal,” she wrote on Twitter.
Dave Watson, a retired senior Unison official, also weighed in: “With workers dying and spreading the virus due to unnecessary workplaces being open, it is not too much to ask the PM to follow his own rules on travel. Do you really think Johnson will help the UK cause when he has done so much to damage it?”
The Greens hit out too with co-leader Lorna Slater saying: “This visit comes just days after the UK reached the horrific milestone of 100,000 dead, a legacy of poor decisions by Boris Johnson himself.
"He championed the failed ‘herd immunity’ approach, outsourced our testing, locked down too late, excused the reckless behaviour of Dominic Cummings and funded the virus with ‘eat out’ vouchers.
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“His trip cannot be described as an essential journey, especially as he refuses to listen to the majority of Scots who want to return to the European Union rather than continue on his disastrous Brexit.”
While Labour leader Keir Starmer defended the trip, Scottish leadership contender Monica Lennon hit out.
She said: “For Boris Johnson to travel hundreds of miles across the country for no other reason than his own personal publicity sends entirely the wrong message as people make so many personal sacrifices to adhere to the current lockdown.”
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During his visit Johnson was guided by staff at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital as he toured the Lighthouse Laboratory, which is used to process coronavirus home-testing kits. He later visited Edinburgh and Livingston, touring a factory making vaccine supplies.
A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: “We have received a small number of complaints regarding Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s visit to Scotland.
“This is a working visit in his official capacity as Prime Minister and we are policing the event appropriately.”
Opinion polls show that voters believe Johnson has handled the pandemic badly, and that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has performed well. According to a survey last weekend voters also believe an independent Scotland would have managed the crisis better.
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