RISHI Sunak will not be meeting Nicola Sturgeon in Bute House in Edinburgh when he travels to Scotland today for his first official visit as Prime Minister.

Instead a face to face meeting between Mr Sunak and the First Minister is being held in the Inverness area this evening.

It is understood the Prime Minister is keen to avoid any tricky encounter or photograph of him and the First Minister on the steps of her official residence after Boris Johnson's experience.

Press photographers snapped the two leaders outside Bute House when Mr Johnson first visited Scotland in July 2019 just after becoming Prime Minister.

READ MORE: Sunak to meet Sturgeon on first official visit to Scotland as PM

The portraits and awkward encounter led to highly negative publicity for Mr Johnson for months afterwards.

"No – the meeting isn’t in Edinburgh and will not be until much later on this evening," a source told The Herald.

Mr Johnson was greeted by protesters who shouted boos at him as he arrived at the First Minister's official residence in the New Town.

He also appeared to get the cold shoulder from Ms Sturgeon as she brushed off his attempt to take the lead on the steps of Bute House.

The former PM appeared to try to usher her into the building after their initial greeting, but she appeared to refuse to allow him to carry out the gesture, making him walk in front of her instead.

Full details of this evening's visit have yet to be confirmed, but the Daily Telegraph said it will tie in with the announcement of two new green freeports expected to be near Edinburgh and Inverness.

The UK Government's relationship with Ms Sturgeon's administration in Scotland has been strained not only by the independence issue but also the potential for Westminster to block Holyrood's gender recognition reforms laws.

It will be Mr Sunak's first visit to Scotland as Prime Minister, although the pair met at the British-Irish Council Summit in Blackpool last year.

At Prime Minister's Questions yesterday, Mr Sunak said he wanted to work with the Scottish Government on the issue of the North Sea oil and gas industry.

But he claimed Ms Sturgeon's government "don't want to support the Scottish energy industry and the 200,000 jobs that it produces".

He was responding to SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, who said Scotland's membership of the UK union "simply doesn't add up".

Mr Sunak said: "I'm keen to work with the Scottish Government to support the North Sea because it's something that we're all very proud of in the UK."

According to The Telegraph, the new freeports will be at Cromarty Firth, near Inverness, and on the Firth of Forth, in Edinburgh.

The green freeports are aimed at boosting investment and growth through the use of tax incentives.

Ahead of fhe visit, Downing Street said that no decision has been made by the UK Government on whether to block Holyrood’s gender recognition legislation.

Asked whether the Prime Minister has decided whether to use section 35 of the Scotland Act, which would block Royal Assent, his official spokesman told reporters: “No, there’s no decision made on that.”

The official said it was still being looked ahead of a deadline next week.

“There is a process to consider it and then he will be given advice to make a decision, that’s still taking place.”

The spokesman declined to “pre-empt” Mr Sunak’s discussions with the Scottish First Minister when asked whether the topic would come up, and said there are “no plans to follow suit” in England.

At First Minister's Questions in Holyrood today, Ms Sturgeon said she would be raising the Conservative Government's plans for new curbs on strikes when she meets the Prime Minister this evening.

She told MSPs that the UK Government already had "the most anti-trade union laws" in western Europe.

And she added: "This bill threatens to undermine and weaken the rights of workers even further. We strongly, strongly oppose any bill that undermines legitimate trade union activity and doesn't respect fair work principles.

"I think as governments we should be working with the public sector and with trade unions to reach fair and reasonable settlements respecting the legitimate interest of workers not trying to put fuel on fires or take away workers' democratic rights and these will be points I make very strongly when I see the Prime Minister later this evening."