BORIS Johnson has appeared unsure about how many referendums on Scottish independence there have been.

On a visit to Faslane Naval Base, his first visit to Scotland as Prime Minister, he hesitated before saying there was only one that he could remember.

There has only ever been one, although Nicola Sturgeon wants to hold a second in the latter half of 2020, or earlier if there is a no-deal Brexit.

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Asked whether he would rule out an independence referendum in his premiership, Mr Johnson said: “In 2014 there was a historic vote. I think it was the only one there’s been in my lifetime that I can remember? Yes, it was. 

“The only vote on Scottish independence that I can remember in my lifetime, and I’m 55, is the only time it’s happened. It was decisive. There was, I think, at least a 10-point margin.

The Herald:

“Everybody made clear at the time, in 2014, even the Scottish Nationalist party [sic] I seem to recollect, said that this was a once in a generation vote, and I think that the confidence of the public in politicians would be undermined yet further if we were to go back on that and hold another referendum. It was clear, it was decisive. The Union is the most successful political partnership anywhere in the world, let’s keep it going.”

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Mr Johnson used his visit to call for a renewal of "the ties that bind our United Kingdom" and announced £300m for projects to boost the economy in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Mr Johnson previously claimed to have campaigned for the Union during the 2014, but did not in fact make campaign visits to Scotland at the time.