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The SNP has said Boris Johnson’s trip to Scotland today is evidence of a “prime minister in panic”, after 20 consecutive polls have shown a majority support for independence.
Keith Brown, the SNP’s Depute Leader, has accused Johnson of mimicking Donald Trump’s attempts to block democracy.
Clearly, Boris Johnson is rattled. By branding this campaign trip as ‘essential’, this is clearly a Prime Minister in panic, who knows the Tories are losing the argument on independence. Twenty polls in a row have shown that a majority of voters believe Scotland’s future should be in Scotland’s hands – not Boris Johnson’s.
Scotland didn’t vote for this Tory government, we didn’t vote for Brexit and we certainly didn’t vote for Boris Johnson. Yet, in the middle of a global pandemic, we’ve been ripped out of the world’s biggest single market against our will causing havoc for businesses and piling even more pressure on our NHS. No wonder that more and more people in Scotland want the right to choose their own future. The longer Boris Johnson reads from the Trump playbook of democracy denial, the more support for Scottish independence will grow.
Some more on the Sir Desmond Swayne’s story (see earlier post). PA media have managed to get hold of the New Forest West MP for an interview.
They report that he is refusing to apologise for telling vaccine sceptics to “persist” with their campaign against lockdown restrictions, arguing he was unaware of their position on jabs. He has insisted, though, that any such sceptic campaigner should stick to the rules.
I have always had a great deal of respect for Michael but I’m not sure precisely what I’m being asked to apologise for. I’m evangelical in my support for the vaccination programme. As for my complaints for masking and the use of data, I’m on the record, I’ve said all of those things in the House of Commons. My remarks to them on those subjects mirror what I’ve said in the House of Commons. I was completely unaware that any of them had any traction on anti-vaxx and no anti-vaxx entered into the conversation I had with them.
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