Boris Johnson fights against Scottish independence in Scotland

He highlighted how his government has helped launch vaccines in the UK, including Scotland, faster than anywhere else in the EU, and provided funding to support public services and subsidize thousands of jobs since the beginning of the crisis.

But a majority of Scots are now in favor of independence from the partial autonomy it now has, according to a series of opinion polls, partly encouraged by the perception that the Scottish government has handled the pandemic better than the London government. The change foreshadows what could be the biggest crisis Mr Johnson’s government has faced since leaving the EU.

Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon has received strong approval ratings, thanks in part to his clear messages about the dangers of Covid and its willingness to shut down companies and schools to keep infection and death rates lower than in other parts of the country. UK

Mr Johnson said the independence debate was an unnecessary distraction and that a previous vote in 2014, in which Scots chose to stay with Britain, should be seen as a one-generation event.

“I think the endless discussions about a referendum without a clear description of the constitutional situation that would follow after that referendum are completely irrelevant now to the concerns of most people,” he said as he visited a new vaccine factory in Livingston, east of Glasgow. “In fact, we don’t know what that referendum would aim to accomplish.”

Former British Treasury chief George Osborne said earlier this month that no British leader wants to be the prime minister who sees Scotland leaving the 300-year-old union with England. Its natural resources, universities and exports are an important part of the British economy and its cultural traditions.

The departure of Scotland would also affect the image of the United Kingdom at a time when it is trying to assert itself as an influential voice on the global stage after leaving the bloc.

However, the problem does not go away. Many of those who voted to stay in the UK in 2014 have changed their minds and are in favor of independence. Michael Sturrock is among them. He has launched a website called NoToYes to attract other voters who are thinking of changing sides.

“It’s about our democratic right to make this choice,” said another pro-UK converter, Mark McGeoghan.

The next crisis comes in the May parliamentary elections. Mrs Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party is on track to get a majority of seats and has vowed to hold a referendum.

But London’s refusal to play together presents a puzzle: How to give a legal and binding vote to appease the more anxious members of her party, while also satisfying the EU, where members like Spain worry about their movements independence and could object to an independent Scotland joining the bloc.

Mrs Sturgeon tried to get Mr Johnson to agree to another independence vote, quoting Scottish national poet Robert Burns over the weekend as “a terrible and timid beast”. Mr Johnson’s comments on Thursday suggest it has had little effect.

His party’s current contingency plan is to propose a referendum in the Scottish Parliament after the May elections and see if Mr Johnson’s government agrees or poses a legal challenge. Eventually, it could reach the UK Supreme Court, which rules on constitutional issues between Scotland and the rest of the UK, said Aileen McHarg, a professor at Durham University and an expert in constitutional law.

“It shows the decision of the Scottish leadership that, however an independence referendum is held, it is held through a legal process, either by consensus or by the courts,” she said. “They are very aware that if they take a different approach and apply the EU, this process would be vetoed.”

If the court decides that Scotland can hold a referendum, it would be harder for Mr Johnson to object.

It could be one last roll of the dice for Scotland’s independence movement, however, at least until there is a change of sentiment in London. People familiar with Mrs Sturgeon’s thinking say her main strategy is to shame the UK into allowing another independence referendum by securing a major ballot in May – something Mr Johnson wants to prevent.

Write to James Hookway at [email protected]