HAVING self-indulgently anointed himself Minister for the Union on becoming Prime Minister 12 months ago, studiously assuring everyone he will govern for the entire UK, I find it politically understandable but statistically unfathomable, that it took Boris Johnson a whole year to make his first visit to Scotland, a country he has not always been entirely complimentary about or indeed welcome in.
Politically, in Scotland, Mr Johnson is not so much skating on thin ice as down amongst the dead men, his faux bonhomie, hypocrisy, bluff and bluster falling to cut the mustard north of the Border; he – and his handlers – clearly know that, going to extraordinary lengths to shield him from "real Scottish people", placing him instead alongside political acolytes, public servants and military personnel unable to refuse and unlikely to speak other than when spoken to ("‘I’ve met loads of people’: Johnson denies hiding from ordinary Scots", The Herald, July 24).
But when it comes to the arithmetic of the Union that Mr Johnson is seemingly so keen to preserve, questions need to be asked; one might be forgiven that, with Scotland's population and electorate roughly 10 per cent of the UK, proportionally, Thursday's visit should have been the 20-somentingth Scottish sojourn, especially – lest he forget – as around 10% of his £175,000 annual salary (including a month’s sick pay) and gold-plated pension pot comes from taxes raised in Scotland.
Furthermore, based on the number of Scottish Conservatives elected at the December 2019 General Election – six out of 61 – and even factoring in the demands of Covid-19 and that it is perfectly possible for the Prime Minister to be working in London on Scottish affairs, would not be reasonable to anticipate Scottish visits close to or actually in double figures to be considered proportionate?
Scotland, on the whole, sees right through Mr Johnson’s transparent facade, rightly judging him on his less than formidable personal, professional and political records, a man who cares little about Scotland or its people, other than his inherent and more recently, genuine fear of going down in history as the "UK Prime Minister Who Lost the Union".
Mike Wilson, Longniddry.
THE Prime Minister visits Scotland and hails the "might" of the Union without understanding how much he has undermined it.
He speaks of union as if it were a partnership of equal nations, and not satellites in subservience to the central power.
He speaks of union without any appreciation of the need for collegiality.
He speaks of union when Brexit has undone so many of the strings that hold us together.
Trevor Rigg, Edinburgh EH10.
IF Boris Johnson were going to plan a "visit" to England, do you think he would go to the Isle of Wight, then Hull?
Thought not.
Alison Ireland, Argyll.
THERE was nothing surprising about Nicola Sturgeon's scathing response to Boris Johnson's visit to Scotland during her Covid-19 update yesterday ("Johnson denies using crisis to claw back Union support", The Herald, July 24). Like a stern headteacher, "Chief Mammy" chided the PM for daring to highlight the benefits of the Union and accused him of political campaigning on the back of the pandemic. Yet she did the same with her off-topic attacks and put-down of the UK borrowing power which paid for nearly 900,000 jobs in Scotland.
Of course, the regular Covid update provides an ideal platform for Ms Sturgeon to make political points, courtesy of BBC Scotland. A separate statement at a more appropriate time during the evening news wouldn't reach the same audience. And it is vital for Ms Sturgeon to stress that no good can ever come from Westminster or, God forbid, that the people of Britain actually enjoy significant benefits through the Union such as freedom of movement, a single currency, a common market, a joint defence and border force, a shared pension pot and all the various co-operations unencumbered by border issues – a level of integration and unity which has long been in place in the UK while, ironically, the EU still tries to and maybe never will achieve exactly that.
Regina Erich, Stonehaven.
I NOTE in your reporting of the Prime Minister's visit to Scotland you feature a photograph of demonstrators in Stromness. Their placards read the "NHS is not for sale" and "Save the NHS, they saved you". If these are their concerns surely they should be directing their efforts to the First Minister, as health is a devolved responsibility. The only thing the Prime Minister has done for the NHS in Scotland is give it considerable amounts of money.
Richard Wiggins, Prestwick.
TOM Gordon's article ("New Yes party inflames divisions within the SNP", the Herald, July 24) hits the nail on the head.
This is why the silent majority of the Scottish people voted for staying part of the UK and would do so again.
The SNP agitators show exactly what kind of country Scotland would become. A country borne out of grievance and division, democracy an inconvenience that can be overridden by waging a war of abusive ill-tempered vitriol and intimidation against their opponents. Scotland would sink back into the medieval past of feuding parties trying to wrest control for their own ends. The Scottish pound would eventually return to the one-tenth the value of the British pound as it was at the Act of Union.
Scotland, be careful what you wish for.
Allan Thompson, Bearsden.
Read more: Letters: The facts of the Covid fight do show the might of the Union
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