WHERE to start? The Union Unit, also known as the Disunity Unit in some circles, has been downgraded and replaced.
It would be funnier if it wasn’t so predictable. The unit, much like the Union itself, has not had an easy ride.
Last night the BBC reported that following the loss of two of the Union Unit’s leaders in the space of a few weeks, the taxpayer-funded group would “no longer play a key role” in government strategy.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson's Union Unit to be replaced with new Cabinet Committee
Instead a new Cabinet committee, the “Cabinet Union Strategy Committee”, will be created – comprising of the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, Michael Gove and the secretaries of state for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
David Frost, Boris Johnson’s former chief Brexit negotiator, will also get a seat at the table.
Henry Newman, an ally of Johnson’s fiancée Carrie Symonds, will now be giving Downing Street “political steer” on Union matters, Guido Fawkes reported.
So how did we get from the Union Unit trying to triple in size, to the Union Unit simply being downgraded, in a matter of weeks?
Here’s the Union Unit timeline summing up just how chaotic this whole process has been.
October 2020
Reports emerge that the UK Government is drawing up plans for a dedicated unit to fight growing support for Scottish independence. It followed polls putting support for Yes as high as 58%.
The Sunday Times says Michael Gove will oversee the team, including two full-time press officers and special adviser, with the aim of having “more of an explaining role than an attack unit”.
From the get-go it was not entirely clear what the purpose of the unit would actually be.
READ MORE: Michael Gove seeking Unionist 'attack dogs' for flailing anti-independence unit
The SNP’s longest serving MP Pete Wishart said at the time: "If Michael Gove seriously thinks people in Scotland want to see even more of our taxes wasted on hiring Tory spin doctors, to lecture us about the so-called benefits of Westminster, then he must be living on another planet entirely.
"The majority for independence is growing, because more and more people believe Scotland would be better off making our own decisions with the full powers of an independent country."
November 2020
In November we saw the first plans for action come out of the Union Unit.
The Huffington Post reported that the team asked to get vials of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine labelled with Union flags.
Number 10 said there were no plans for this at the time – which did not mean a request hadn’t been made.
READ MORE: Philippa Whitford warns against politicising Covid vaccine with Union flag
The publication said the plan had strong backing from Matt Hancock and Alok Sharma.
But ultimately the plan did not come to fruition, and the idea went down like a lead balloon.
The SNP’s health spokesperson Philippa Whitford gave a strong warning against politicising the vaccine in this way, calling the proposal “childish” and “puerile”.
“I feel anything like this with a Union flag or ‘made in Britain’, world-beating, literally Boris Johnson trying to live in a reflected glory of the Oxford team – that makes people distrust it,” Whitford explained. “Why are they doing that?”
February 3, 2021
After a quiet period for the unit, we learn that Luke Graham, the former Tory MP for Ochil and South Perthshire, has left the role of head of the Union Unit – the day after the Prime Minister returned from a visit to Scotland.
The Financial Times says Graham clashed with former Vote Leave chief Oliver Lewis, who was planning to take over what government officials called a “beefed-up Union Unit”.
Some insiders reported that Graham did not have the authority to do his job. “There was a lack of faith in letting him do what he needed to do,” one person said. “A lot of his efforts were frustrated by other people in the building.”
One Scottish Tory said: “Luke was the only one who gets Scotland in there, it’s a shame he’s gone and speaks to their total lack of a strategy on how to deal with the SNP.”
February 4
Vote Leave’s Oliver Lewis is announced as the boss of the “beefed up” Downing Street Union Unit.
He is not known for experience on Scottish issues. A source insisted: “Oliver is good at this stuff. He knows this can't just be about brute economics. It's about passion, identity and about promoting the idea that you can be proud to be Scottish and British."
READ MORE: Boris Johnson claims to be ‘voice of the Scottish people’ despite Union Unit chaos
But the SNP had different ideas. The party’s deputy Westminster leader Kirsten Oswald said at the time: "The Vote Leave takeover of Boris Johnson's taxpayer-funded anti-independence campaign has spectacularly backfired - and will drive up support for independence even further.
"By installing Dominic Cummings' Brexit apprentice as head of the so-called 'Union Unit' the Prime Minister is demonstrating, yet again, that he is completely clueless about Scotland.”
February 9
The Union Unit announces it is looking for new staff – but knowledge of Scotland is not required.
The cell is branded “clueless” for saying knowledge of the nation is just “desirable” in a job ad.
The ad describes the unit as a “high-profile team at the very heart of Government”. (Not anymore.)
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon hits out at Union Unit for saying knowledge of Scotland isn't needed
Keith Brown, the SNP’s depute leader, can’t believe it. "It reeks of Westminster arrogance that the Tories are willing to hire a senior staff member who lacks a basic understanding of ‘issues relevant to Scotland’,” he said.
"The taxpayer shouldn't be paying through the nose for this Tory flag waving exercise.
"Decisions about Scotland should be taken in Scotland – not Whitehall."
February 19
Henry Newman
Just days after press reports that the Union Unit is looking to triple in size to feature between 30-50 special advisers, Oliver Lewis suddenly quits.
He is the latest Vote Leave staffer in Johnson’s inner circle to leave Downing Street, as the Government tries to rebrand itself. Friends say Lewis’s position became untenable.
There are rumours that Henry Newman will take over the unit.
Now it’s February 25, and the Union Unit as we know it is reportedly no more. Union matters are to be discussed as part of a Cabinet committee. In other words, we’re back where we were before October.
How much taxpayer cash has been spent on this failed experiment? What has been achieved?
One thing's for sure - it doesn't look good for the "saviours of the Union".
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