Boris Johnson was today accused of doing the SNP’s work for them after he stormed that devolution had been been a ‘disaster’.
The PM is facing the fury of unionists after the venting his frustration at surging support for independence north of the border – blaming Tony Blair for handing powers to Holyrood.
A jubilant Nicola Sturgeon immediately seized on the comments, made during a Zoom call with MPs, to claim Mr Johnson wanted to claw back control to Westminster.
And Tories raged that they were ‘speechless’ about his ‘loose language, which comes ahead of critical elections north of the border in May – which the separatists want to use as a platform for forcing another referendum on splitting the UK next year.
Scotland Conservative leader Douglas Ross tried to limit the damage by directly contradicting the premier, while a former communications chief for the party, Andy Maciver, said: ‘If the SNP could write the unionist script it would look exactly like this.’
Mr Johnson’s remarks came in a call with 60 MPs which he made over a video call from Downing Street self-isolation.
‘Devolution has been a disaster north of the border,’ he said, adding that it was former prime minister Mr Blair’s ‘biggest mistake’ when it was introduced in the late 1990s.
Sources close to Mr Johnson tried to limit the damage by insisting that he was referring to the way devolution has been ‘used by separatists and nationalists to break up the UK’, but Downing Street did not deny the leaked comments.
It is another hammer blow for the PM’s desperate effort to ‘reset’ his government after a meltdown that saw maverick chief aide Dominic Cummings ousted.
But Mr Johnson has been left a prisoner in his Downing Street flat for the rest of the month after a maskless meeting an MP who later tested positive for coronavirus.
Devolution has been a ‘disaster’ and was the biggest mistake made by Tony Blair when he was PM, Boris Johnson told colleagues
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon immediately seized on the comments to make the case for independence
An Ipsos Mori poll last moth suggested that support for Scottish independence had hit 58 per cent – the highest on record
Alarm has been growing in Westminster at the surge in support for independence, with one recent poll putting it at 58 per cent.
Nicola Sturgeon’s handling of the coronavirus crisis and Brexit tensions have been credited with the shift.
But the inability of unionists to mobilise and get across their messages about the benefits of keeping the centuries-old alliance has also been identified as a problem.
Many MPs were angry at ‘Little Englanders’ in the PM’s top team, and had hoped that Mr Johnson’s own ‘passion’ for the union would reassert itself with the departure of Mr Cummings and his allies.
Meanwhile, Mr Ross has been desperately trying to distance himself from the party in England, admitting that Mr Johnson is a liability north of the border and Ms Sturgeon is a better communicator.
The Labour government introduced devolution for Scotland, including the parliament in Edinburgh, in 1999.
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said at the weekend that a second vote on splitting the country ‘must’ happen in 2021 – insisting it had already been delayed from this year.
He said Ms Sturgeon will have grounds to hold a referendum ‘quickly’ if the SNP wins Holyrood elections in May.
Former Secretary of State for Scotland Sir Malcolm Rifkind told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the Prime Minister’s remarks were ‘rather typical of the rather loose language that Boris Johnson occasionally uses’.
He added: ‘I suspect, I’ve thought about this and I think there are two things he was almost certainly meaning to say. He’s quoted as saying it was Tony Blair’s greatest disaster and of course from the point of view of the Labour Party in Scotland it was a total disaster.
‘The creation of a Scottish Assembly was meant to lead to the end of the SNP and the end of nationalism, it actually led to the end of the Labour Party in Scotland who are now behind the Tories which in my day would have been inconceivable.
‘I think the other point and it’s a more fundamental point for what’s happening at the moment is that the way the SNP who control the Scottish Parliament are operating is they’ve been pretty useless when it comes to dealing with Scottish education and domestic Scottish issues, they’ve been obsessed with the demands for referendums, keep having referendums, a never-end-um, until they hopefully win independence.
‘The whole issue of the good administration of Scotland, the good government of Scotland, has been distorted by this obsession with taking it to the ultimate stage and breaking up the United Kingdom.’
Mr Johnson told MPs that he did not currently ‘see a case’ for handing down more powers from Westminster to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
However, a No10 source said: ‘The PM has always supported devolution, but Tony Blair failed to foresee the rise of separatists in Scotland.
‘And leaving the EU means we must strengthen and protect the UK economy with the UK Internal Market Bill. Devolution is great – but not when it’s used by separatists and nationalists to break up the UK.’
Mr Ross said: ‘Devolution has not been a disaster. The SNP’s non-stop obsession with another [independence] referendum – above jobs, schools and everything else – has been a disaster.’
Ms Sturgeon said on social media: ‘Worth bookmarking these PM comments for the next time Tories say they’re not a threat to the powers of the Scottish Parliament or, even more incredibly, that they support devolving more powers.
‘The only way to protect and strengthen the Scottish Parliament is with independence.’
Mr Ross is due to use the Scottish Tory virtual conference, which begins on Friday, as the launchpad for next year’s Scottish Parliament elections following bleak recent polling for the party.
He has been trying to distance himself from Mr Johnson, criticising policies on Brexit, as well as backing calls for free school meal vouchers to be extended in holidays, and suggesting the Scots government should be able to pay 80 per cent furlough during lockdown.
Earlier this month, he said the Prime Minister may be the reason support for independence has soared in recent polls.
Asked in an interview whether Ms Sturgeon was a better communicator, Mr Ross said: ‘I think most objective people would say she is a more effective communicator than the Prime Minister.’
Mr Ross was confronted with Mr Johnson’s approval rating in Scotland of minus 57, compared to Ms Sturgeon at plus 49.
Pressed on whether the PM was harmful to the case for Scotland staying in the UK, he replied: ‘You can’t say that the people of Scotland are absolutely wrong with their ratings on their various leaders so we’ve got to reflect on that and the Prime Minister reflects on it.
‘He is not blind to opinion in Scotland.’
Labour’s Shadow Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said of the latest row: ‘This confirms that Boris Johnson doesn’t believe in devolution and would put the future of the United Kingdom at risk.’
He added: ‘Devolution is one of Labour’s proudest achievements and we will always fight for a strong Scotland in the UK. Scotland deserves better than two governments obsessed by division – Labour will work to bring our country together.’
A recent poll outlined the scale of the battle Mr Johnson faces to keep the UK united in the face of Brexit and coronavirus.
The Ipsos Mori research for STV last month found that among those who would be likely to vote in an independence referendum, 58 per cent say they would vote Yes, while 42 per cent would vote No.
At the last referendum in 2014, 55 per cent of Scots voted to stay a part of the UK, with 45 per cent backing secession.
Additionally, almost two thirds (64 per cent) of Scots believe that Mr Johnson should permit a fresh vote within the next five years if the SNP wins a majority in Holyrood elections next May. This is something he has ruled out.
The UK government has increasingly been on a war footing against Ms Sturgeon with the pressure rising for a referendum – but MPs and advisers are in despair at the lack of a plausible strategy.
The looming threat of Scotland going independent is one of the reasons many Tories think Mr Johnson might not be in Downing Street much longer, despite winning an historic 80-strong majority at the election less than a year ago.
Boris Johnson said devolution was former Labour prime minister Tony Blair’s ‘biggest mistake’ when it was introduced in the late 1990s’
Labour’s Shadow Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said: ‘This confirms that Boris Johnson doesn’t believe in devolution and would put the future of the United Kingdom at risk’
It emerged last month that an assessment put together by key Tory advisers had warned Mr Johnson cannot simply keep saying ‘no’ to the SNP leader’s demands for another referendum.
The document from Hanbury strategy bemoaned the ‘vacuum of leadership’ within the unionist movement – and suggests that the PM will need to offer Ms Sturgeon more powers to stave off a catastrophic break-up of the UK.
Hanbury is run by former government special advisers Ameet Gill and Paul Stephenson. Mr Stephenson worked on the Vote Leave campaign, and was part of the Conservative election machine last December.
Mr Blackford’s call for a referendum to happen next year sparked widespread anger at the weekend.
Critics branded the push ‘disrespectful’, with former PM Gordon Brown insisting the SNP should instead focus on ‘healing’ after the pandemic.
In an interview with the Sunday National newspaper, Mr Blackford, MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, said: ‘We need to demonstrably show that the people of Scotland are determined that they will have their say and in the first case, we have to win this election for the people of Scotland.
‘To be able to be respectful to those who are not currently with us that we’re appealing to join us; about that denial of democracy that is currently taking place and to affirm that it is the sovereign right of the people of Scotland to determine their own future; and come what may, we will prevail.’
Mr Blackford added: ‘That referendum will take place and we need to plan that that referendum must take place in 2021.’
He said the coronavirus crisis had led to plans for another referendum being delayed, saying: ‘Covid has come along and the Scottish Government in particular, has had to take its responsibilities of stewarding the country through this crisis.
‘So we’ve had to, from a tactical point of view, put off holding a referendum in 2020 and I apologise that that was the case.’
The party’s Westminster leader said the SNP would have a platform to hold indyref2 ‘quickly’ when the crisis is over and they secured a ‘victory at Holyrood’.
But former Labour premier Mr Brown told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that a referendum should not be held as the country ‘heals’ from coronavirus.
Mr Johnson has ruled out a second referendum on Scottish independence following the 2014 vote, in which breaking away from the UK was backed by just 44.7 per cent of Scots.
Ms Sturgeon has called for another referendum if the SNP win the elections next May.