According to the latest polling the party is set to win a majority in the Parliament. Ahead of the visit, Cabinet Office minister Gove told BBC Radio Scotland: “He’s the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, it’s absolutely essential that the Prime Minister is there to see how on the front line we are progressing in our vaccine delivery and rollout programme. “It’s critically important that the Scottish Government and the UK Government are working together to do everything we can to support the rollout and see what we can do to improve it.” Gove insisted there is “no substitute for a leader better than being there”, when questioned why he did not speak to people remotely.
Jacob Rees-Mogg has called Nicola Sturgeon “Moanalot” following her remarks that Boris Johnson’s trip to Scotland is not an essential journey.
The Prime Minister flew into Scotland on Thursday and visited the Lighthouse Laboratory in Glasgow, and other sites helping tackle the pandemic.
The trip has been criticised by the SNP, with the party’s Commons spokesman Tommy Sheppard telling MPs that the Prime Minister is “more than capable of patronising us from his office in Whitehall”.
Speaking ahead of the PM’s visit, Ms Sturgeon said: “I would say me travelling from Edinburgh to Aberdeen to visit a vaccination centre right now is not essential, and Boris Johnson travelling from London to wherever he is in Scotland to do the same is not essential.
By Press Association 2021
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is shown the Lighthouse Laboratory, used for processing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) samples for coronavirus, during a visit to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus in Glasgow
Boris Johnson’s visit to Scotland to promote the Union is “absolutely essential”, Cabinet member Michael Gove has insisted after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon questioned whether the trip is necessary during the pandemic.
Amid signs of rising support for Scottish independence, the Prime Minister is visiting Scotland on Thursday to argue that the Union has been integral in administering the Covid-19 vaccine, providing coronavirus testing and giving economic support.
UK Cabinet insist Boris Johnson’s mid-pandemic trip to Scotland is ‘absolutely essential’
Michael Gove has said Boris Johnson’s visit to Scotland to promote the Union is ‘absolutely essential’. File Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA
Thu, 28 Jan, 2021 - 08:58
Sam Blewett and Patrick Daly, PA Political Correspondent
Boris Johnson’s visit to Scotland to promote the Union is “absolutely essential”, UK Cabinet member Michael Gove has insisted after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon questioned whether the trip is necessary during the pandemic.
Amid signs of rising support for Scottish independence, the British Prime Minister is visiting Scotland on Thursday to argue that the Union has been integral in administering the Covid-19 vaccine, providing coronavirus testing and giving economic support.
Jacob Rees-Mogg has called Nicola Sturgeon “Moanalot” following her remarks that Boris Johnson’s trip to Scotland is not an essential journey.
The Prime Minister flew into Scotland on Thursday and visited the Lighthouse Laboratory in Glasgow, and other sites helping tackle the pandemic.
The trip has been criticised by the SNP, with the party’s Commons spokesman Tommy Sheppard telling MPs that the Prime Minister is “more than capable of patronising us from his office in Whitehall”.
Speaking ahead of the PM’s visit, Ms Sturgeon said: “I would say me travelling from Edinburgh to Aberdeen to visit a vaccination centre right now is not essential, and Boris Johnson travelling from London to wherever he is in Scotland to do the same is not essential.