Page 12 - Union Unit News Today

The Union Flag The official government release included a note to editors, picked up by the press, to the effect that “there is specific legislation setting out the arrangements for the flying of flags from government buildings” in the Province. This was taken by some papers, such as The Guardian, to mean that “the new regulations will not apply to Northern Ireland”. Critics were swift to point out that once again, the Prime Minister’s efforts seemed only to have confirmed Ulster’s ...

BORIS Johnson wanted to stop an inquiry into the source of leaks to the media from Downing Street to protect one of his fiancee’s best friends, Dominic Cummings has alleged. The former chief special adviser attacked Johnson on his website following accusations from No10 that he had been responsible for handing the media private texts sent from billionaire Brexiteer James Dyson to the Prime Minister. However, the Prime Minister has denied that Cummingss claims are true.  It was widely...

Ministers were worried that the UK’s international reputation would be damaged if Scotland left the UK and took all the oil with it LABOUR ministers drew up secret plans to hive off Shetland – and possibly Orkney – from an independent Scotland as well as to change maritime borders in order to bring North Sea oil into “English waters” as part of a covert campaign to scupper independence, it has emerged. Newly released documents from the late 1970s reveal the government led by Jim C...

National Extra James Callaghan (top) and Boris Johnson both had Union Units to counter the SNP, and an oil rig in the North Sea. FOR many folk in Scotland, it will come as no surprise – as now finally revealed in papers held secret at the UK National Archives at Kew for the last 40 years – that Labour ministers in the 1970s plotted to transfer North Sea oil to “English waters” in order to sabotage Scottish independence. After all, London governments have used dirty tricks against e...

Rycroft said Johnson had a “muscular brand of Unionism ... which is increasingly expressed in combative terms”. It said this brand of Unionism sees Westminster reluctant to share platforms with first ministers. The report references Johnson’s remarks to a group of Conservative MPs last year, saying devolution was a “disaster” and one of Tony Blair’s “biggest mistakes”. It adds: “Whether this yields the right strategic approach for Unionists to adopt in the current, in...

I WROTE to The National on Friday saying that Geoffrey Chapman, who jointly published the report indicating that the Scots economy would be viable after independence, would either start backtracking pretty quickly or no longer be required as a Westminster government adviser. His report doesn’t fit the narrative of too wee, too poor, too stupid. It was refreshing to hear about his report nonetheless. I wrote “at least it hasn’t been suppressed yet – oops, they must have missed that one...

“That’s what I’m here to do, to make sure that those people work together.” Downing Street sources said Ms Davidson was a “valuable politician” with one source telling the Express: “Boris Johnson highly values Ruth, she’s a competent politician and would pose a highly valuable asset in helping to save the Union.” Peers Nicky Morgan and Zac Goldsmith were previously appointed Government ministers. Express.co.uk understands Mr Johnson is looking to change the way the UK Governme...

Most people prefer the idea of having a ballot paper similar to the one from 2014 JUST a quarter of Scots believe there should be a third “devo-max” option on the ballot paper at a future Scottish independence referendum, a poll has found. There have been calls from the likes of STUC general secretary Roz Foyer to expand the range of options for voters during indyref2 and allow the possibility of further devolution. Labour and the LibDems have also indicated support for putting a third ...

Boris Johnson will outline his rejection of independence this weekend BORIS Johnson is to reiterate his government’s position on Scottish independence this weekend, insisting they will not grant a Section 30 order for a new referendum even if the SNP win a majority in May. The Prime Minister is due to address the Scottish Tory Party conference on Sunday, where he will argue that holding a referendum during the pandemic would be reckless. The message follows chaos in the UK Government’...

The UK Government’s Union Unit is a relatively new wheeze but so far, there’s been little unity within its ranks. As Oscar Wilde nearly said, “To lose one leader may be regarded as a misfortune, to lose both looks like carelessness”. With his usual lack of self-awareness, the Prime Minister has entered the fray, styling himself Minister for the Union and heading up the Union Strategy Committee. Rather like Herod becoming a patron of Unicef. The PM’s Union Strategy Committee and Mich...