Prime Minister highlights 'might' of union in thank-you visit to Moray
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BORIS Johnson today thanked Moray armed forces personnel for their coronavirus response efforts during a Scotland visit in which he highlighted the "sheer might" of the union.
Marking one year as prime minister, Mr Johnson listed ways in which the UK Government had helped Scotland handle the Covid-19 pandemic.
The prime minister said the military efforts to support the NHS – along with UK Government support for Scottish businesses and workers – demonstrated the union's strengths.
The SNP said the visit indicated Mr Johnson was "in a panic" about recent opinion polls showing rising support for Scottish independence.
In Moray, the prime minister stopped off at both military bases and local business Baxters.
The prime minister flew into Kinloss Barracks at around 2pm today after a stop-off in Orkney. At Kinloss he heard more about the role of its personnel in setting up mobile Covid-19 testing centres and on the three Puma helicopters deployed to Kinloss Barracks to support the NHS.
A group of around 60 protesters from the Yes movement and Extinction Rebellion stationed themselves outside the barracks ahead of his arrival.
After meeting staff on a tour at Baxters, where he was accompanied by Moray MP Douglas Ross and Conservative councillor Tim Eagle, he took questions from the press in the officers' mess at RAF Lossiemouth, before going on to meet and thank military families in the early evening.
Challenged about his claims on the strength of the union as polls show more than half of Scots favour independence, the prime minister said: "You have seen ways in which the union of the United Kingdom has exemplified some of its key strengths.
"The speed with which the Treasury was able to deploy, the HMRC was able to get the furlough scheme going, and about £160 billion worth of support for incomes, for people's livelihoods, for firms, was a fantastic demonstration of the way we work together as one country.
"Just talking today to some of the armed services people who have been flying around some of the remoter parts of Scotland, bringing testing kits to people who need them, helping to ferry people, some quite sick, to places where they need to get to, again you see the strength of our country working together as one.
"What came home to me today is how we, as one country, can bounce back stronger together through ensuring that we get through a crisis that is not only medical but also economic."
The prime minister rejected claims he was politicising the Covid situation.
He added: "It's very important to look at the ways in which the whole of the UK can bounce back stronger together. I'm here to talk about the ways in which we're doing things as one UK. I happen to think that's the best way to do things and it's a great thing for our country. When you strip away some of the rhetoric, beneath it the UK is dealing with this crisis in a way that is very uniform across the whole of the country and we're going to get through it together.
"The unity, the shared approach, is much much more significant than the differences."
Mr Johnson also paid tribute to Mr Ross for his "tireless campaigning" for an end to US whisky tariffs.
He said he shared the concern about the tariffs, adding: "They are unjustified and it's a point that I've made repeatedly to the US administration and will continue to make.
"It's my hope that we will get a free trade deal not just with our EU friends and partners but we'll also be able to use that free trade deal to do a parallel deal with other countries, including the US. At that stage, the question of tariffs on Scotch whisky should become completely irrelevant. There's no reason for these tariffs, any more than there's reason for tariffs on oatcakes or shortbread or Johnstons cashmere. These tariffs are unjustified and we're going to fight them every step of the way."
Mr Johnson was asked what coming to the constituency of Mr Ross, who quit the government over the Dominic Cummings fiasco, said about his handling of coronavirus.
The PM said: "I think he's doing a very good job of campaigning for Scotch whisky, among other things."
He was also asked why he "hid" from Scottish voters every time he comes to Scotland. Mr Johnson joked he was prepared for that question, adding: "I haven't. I've met crab fishers and I've met people working at a cheese factory. I also went to the wonderful world of Baxters soup. They all seemed in a very good mood. I thoroughly recommend that people take a trip to Baxters."
He added: "Whatever the superficial political differences and the differences in presentation, the reality is that this country is tackling the coronavirus crisis with much more that unites us than divides us. That is going to continue to be our approach. I want to talk about the incredible opportunities that the UK has to build back better, and to build back better together."
Mr Johnson said the last six months had shown why the "historic and heartfelt bond that ties the four nations of our country together" was so important and the "sheer might of the union had been proven once again".
He added: "In Scotland, the UK’s magnificent armed forces have been on the ground doing vital work to support the NHS – from setting up and running mobile testing sites to airlifting critically-ill patients to hospitals from some of Scotland’s most remote communities.
"And the UK Treasury stepped in to save the jobs of a third of Scotland’s entire workforce and kept the wolves at bay for tens of thousands of Scottish businesses."
The Army supported the set-up of drive-through testing facilities, operated pop-up mobile testing sites, distributed equipment to hospitals, and helped the NHS on the temporary hospital at the SEC in Glasgow.
Mr Ross said today: "This is the prime minister’s second visit to Moray in just eight months – which is in stark contrast to Nicola Sturgeon who last came here in her official capacity as first minister way back in 2018.
"The military here in Moray have played a key role in supporting the UK and Scottish governments during the Covid pandemic and I’m really grateful the prime minister has come here personally to thank them.
"This visit had to be delayed because of Covid but the prime minister will continue to be a regular visitor to Scotland. While the SNP moan about every visit he makes, they have to remember Scotland has two governments and if Nicola Sturgeon ever leaves the central belt we would have plenty to show her here in Moray."
Moray SNP MSP Richard Lochhead tweeted earlier: "Such a fuss over the PM visiting north of the border really does highlight the UK Government’s very dysfunctional relationship with Scotland and the role he is playing by helping to boost support for Scottish independence."
