BORIS Johnson has said a second independence referendum is "about as far from the top of my agenda as it is possible to be". 

The Prime Minister said the priority for the UK is "bouncing back together" from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. 

He made the comments during a trip to Scotland, in which he held a virtual Q&A with journalists while on a boat visiting an offshore windfarm.

Mr Johnson said converting the vaccination programme into a "big jobs bounce-back" was his priority.

He said: "I think the priority for our country as a whole is bouncing back together, working our way forwards from this pandemic together, and I think the opportunities are absolutely phenomenal. 

"The emphasis, I think, has got to be on economic recovery, and I think constitutional change is not top of my agenda, let me put it that way."

The Prime Minister was asked if he would agree to an independence referendum during the coronavirus recovery.

He said: "Well, I think I’ve said several times now within the course of this discussion that I think that the focus should be on economic recovery and constitutional change is about as far from the top of my agenda as it is possible to be."

Mr Johnson would not be drawn on Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove's recent comments that a second referendum would happen if it was the "settled will" of Scots.