BORIS Johnson’s latest strategy to stop Scottish independence is “Project Love”, according to Alister Jack.
Westminster has briefed the media on how it plans to save the Union many times since Johnson became PM. In 2019, shortly after the SNP secured 47 seats in the General Election, he insisted he would “love bomb” Scotland in an effort to soften independence support.
Since then his government has implemented the Internal Market Bill, dragged Scotland out of Europe and is now taking Holyrood to court over its landmark children’s rights legislation. Johnson was also reported as describing devolution as a “disaster” while support for independence reached record highs of 58% last year.
READ MORE: Get ready to be sick as Boris’s love bomb lands on Scotland
Going into next month’s Holyrood election, polls are showing Scotland will elect a pro-independence majority.
Constitution Secretary Michael Russell has accused the UK Government of showing “total disregard” for Scotland and “contempt” for devolution.
It seems the Tory government now wants to move away from its perceived image in Scotland and recycle the failed “love bomb” effort, branding it as “Project Love”.
“What we're doing is strengthening the Union; that's the policy across Whitehall,” Jack told Politico. “We recognise that there are many, many great benefits to our family of nations and maybe we don't trumpet them enough.”
The project will seek to make the optimistic case for the Union, not only to stop Scottish independence but also to show the value of Wales and Northern Ireland.
The centrepiece of the plan will be to replace EU investment with a “shared prosperity fund” managed in London, which will bypass the devolved governments.
This will see cash go directly to local authorities for specific purposes under the banner of the Union flag, going over Holyrood’s head and allowing Westminster to take the credit.
“Before, Europe dealt directly with the Highlands and Islands, for instance,” the Scotland Secretary said. “Now, we want the UK Government to be able to deal directly with local authorities and work with them to deliver on projects that matter most to people.”
READ MORE: This is what the Scottish Government plans to do about lost EU funding
The UK Government will also promote “growth deals” and an ongoing transport review – they’re still promoting the idea of linking Scotland and Northern Ireland with a bridge, even though political leaders on both sides of the sea have rejected this.
Whitehall is also trying to demonstrate how seriously it takes the Union. The Scottish Secretary has hired two more former journalists as media advisers to serve alongside Magnus Gardham.
“It's about helping to tell a story about what the UK Government is doing for people in Scotland,” a Whitehall source said.
John Cooper and Tom Peterkin will be based at the Queen Elizabeth House in Edinburgh and tasked with getting Downing Street spin into the Scottish papers.
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie (above) said ignoring the devolution settlement did not represent "love" for the country.
"Overriding and bypassing the decisions of democratically elected devolved governments demonstrates contempt, not 'love'," he told The National. "Refusing the people of Scotland a choice over their future isn't any better.
"Alister Jack seems to think that by using the word 'love' he will mask the truth of these plans, which is to dismantle democracy in Scotland and enforce Tory priorities on a Scotland that didn't vote for them.
"The only slow burn experienced will be the diminishing voice of the Conservative Party as Scotland plans its future as a new independent nation, leading Europe's efforts to tackle the climate emergency. We don't have to accept this Tory power grab, if we vote like our future depends on it in May."
Meanwhile Jenny Gilruth, the SNP MSP for Mid Fife and Glenrothes, said the plan is "so slow it's going backwards".
She went on: "Scotland isn't interested in a ‘slow burn’ love affair with the Tories - this is desperate stuff from a party who just can’t accept that the people of Scotland aren’t interested in their advances.
"The people in Scotland already know the Tories dragged us out of the EU against our will and imposed on us a decade of austerity. And they still haven't told us exactly what EU funding the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will replace, meaning Scotland's farmers and crofters, businesses and organisations are still left in the dark almost 5 years on from the EU referendum.
"If it wasn't so serious and putting livelihoods and rights in jeopardy you would think it was some sort of joke."
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