THE Covid recovery conference which was due to be hosted by the Prime Minister tomorrow has been put off, it has emerged.

Boris Johnson invited Nicola Sturgeon and the leaders of the devolved governments in Wales and Northern Ireland to the special summit following the election.

It was due to take place online tomorrow but has been postponed amid failure to agree its remit.

"As you saw last night, ourselves and the Welsh government are calling for more detail and thought to be put into planning any such summit, in terms of having a proper detailed agenda, proposed outcomes," one insider told The National.

It is expected a new date for the event should be announced soon.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said it was "disappointing that the Scottish government feel the need to delay this meeting so they have more time to prepare." 

He added: "The PM is keen to speak to the First Ministers about our recovery, we want to do that as soon as possible but we don’t have a date set. We want to work with them to find a new date to schedule this."

Sturgeon and the Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford yesterday united to tell Johnson to drop the bluster at the proposed summit.

In a letter to the Tory leader, which is copied to Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill, they demanded more clarity and substance around plans to bring the four UK nations together.

The pair criticised Johnson's office for sending "a very rough proposed agenda" with key issues in the discussions seemingly yet to be agreed.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford tell PM to cut the bluster at Covid summit

They also made a case for "further discussion" to take place ahead of the summit.

The letter states: "We are writing about the proposed 4-nations summit on Covid recovery, which you have suggested should take place this Thursday afternoon.

"We are both deeply committed to taking part in such a summit and to working appropriately together on Covid Recovery – but, as we are sure you do, we want the meeting to be a meaningful discussion with substantive outcomes, and not just a PR exercise.

"Our view is that this will be best achieved if further detailed preparation is done in advance.

"In particular, we would propose early discussion to reach agreement on the following: 1. A detailed agenda. Your office sent a very rough proposed agenda only yesterday morning and our view is that further work is needed to agree key issues for discussion and any supporting papers to be prepared;

"2. What outcomes/further process we are seeking to achieve as a result of the summit discussion.

"Further discussion between our officials, leading to the summit taking place on an agreed date, perhaps as early as next week, would allow for a much more meaningful exercise, and avoid the risk of it being just a PR or box-ticking exercise.

"We are sure that is what we all want."