BORIS Johnson has insisted the union flag should be prominent at the global climate summit in Glasgow and said he does not want the First Minister "anywhere near" it.
The COP26 meeting, under the auspices of the UN, will decide the future direction of global efforts to avert the climate crisis.
It will take place in Glasgow in December 2020, with about 30,000 delegates expected as well as leaders of most of the world’s governments, making it the biggest international summit to be hosted in the UK.
After months of behind-the-scenes preparations, the UK was confirmed earlier this month as co-host with Italy, where some preparatory meetings will take place, when other countries signalled their acceptance on Tuesday.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson renews attacks on Scottish independence campaigners
At a Conservative Party fringe meeting, Mr Johnson said the union flag should stand out at all Westminister-funded policies and events.
He reportedly said: “I’ll tell you what we’ll do. We make sure - with every policy we pursue, with every investment we make in Scotland, then we put a Union flag on it.
“For instance, the COP26 climate change summit that’s going to be held ... the leaders of the entire world will come to Glasgow."
The Sun reported him saying: “I guess I don’t mind seeing a Saltire or two on that summit, but I want to see a union flag - I don’t want to see Nicola Sturgeon anywhere near it, because the Scottish Nationalist Party didn’t secure that summit in Glasgow, it was the United Kingdom government.”
READ MORE: Boris Johnson attacks SNP record and says 'no' to indyref2
The packed room of Scottish Conservatives were said to have chanted “Boris! Boris! Boris!” and “Get Brexit Done!” as he arrived. And cheered his speech.
Up to 30,000 delegates are expected for the conference which will be the most important on the climate since the Paris agreement was passed in 2015, because the future of the pledges countries made will be reviewed.
Nations agreed to a legally binding commitment in Paris to keep global temperature rises to no more than 2C above pre-industrial levels, but also offered national pledges to cut or curb their greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
A spokesman for the First Minister said: “People will be deeply embarrassed to hear their Prime Minister acting so childishly.
“It is right that the COP26 conference should come to Scotland given our leadership in climate action – we were one of the first countries in the world to acknowledge the global climate emergency and the Scottish Government has introduced the toughest targets in the UK to ensure our action matches the scale of our climate ambitions.
“When it comes to issues of common concern such as climate change, the SNP Government are proud to play our part and work in partnership with other governments – something that Boris Johnson seems completely incapable of doing.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel