Boris Johnson is becoming PM of England only as Scotland and Wales refuse to sign up to his muddled Covid-19 response. His unwillingness to listen to them will have major repercussions for the future of the UK.
Johnson’s new approach to overcoming the pandemic is boiled down to the slogan ‘Stay Alert’, which he unveiled with typical gusto on Sunday evening.
Barely after the prime minister uttered the words to the UK’s population across all TV channels, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon firebombed it in spectacular style, saying: “I have asked the UK government not to deploy their ‘Stay Alert’ advertising campaign in Scotland.”
There was a huge amount of anticipation to see what Johnson’s plan would entail. He lifted exercise restrictions, allowed the public to drive anywhere in England, encouraged people to return to work if it wasn’t possible to do so from home and revealed schools and shops could reopen on June 1.
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Scotland has brazenly confirmed it will implement none of these, apart from the restrictions on exercise. Sturgeon is outraged at being pushed aside by Boris and his Brady Bunch government, which has presided over the UK suffering the second highest death toll in the world.
She only knew about ‘Stay Alert’, when she saw it printed in Sunday’s newspapers. The arrogance of the Westminster cabal was again on display as Sturgeon was interviewed live on Sky News, discussing her views on the Covid-19 battleplan.
Presenter Kay Burley cut her off mid-sentence to shout at Health Secretary Matt Hancock strolling along Downing Street.
What way is that to treat the democratically elected head of one of the UK’s devolved parliaments?
Closed borders?
The incident summed up an undercurrent that has now bubbled to the surface. Johnson is an ardent unionist but his conduct and the tone he has set is annexing the UK.
Scottish police sources have even suggested they may formally block the border and turn cars away that attempt to cross from England.
Even if that doesn't happen, First Secretary of State Dominic Rabb has confirmed that motorists are not allowed to drive for exercise from England into either Scotland or Wales.
This is a worrying development.
Wales has followed Scotland's lead in rejecting the ‘Stay Alert’ message with First Minister Mark Drakeford commenting: “Our advice has not changed in Wales.” Northern Ireland has shown similar sentiments, but less vocally.
The three smaller states are rebelling against the largest state in the union, home to the government and the biggest city, London. Their populations are displaying more trust in their devolved leaders, and this has been fuelled by the blundering and error-strewn shambles that has been orchestrated by Westminster.
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The litany of mistakes has been recounted many times but perhaps most glaring was the purchase of 400,000 ‘PPE gowns’ from a t-shirt salesman in Turkey.
The Royal Air Force sent a transport plane, which sat embarrassingly on the tarmac for two days in Istanbul before being loaded up. On arrival, the gowns were discovered to fail safety standards and are now impounded in a warehouse.
That ineptitude, along with the dismissive attitude to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland’s leadership, is why the UK is being torn apart. And the separation is becoming quasi-official by leaving the leaders of these nations out of the discussions and decision making.
Downing Street has treated its response to Covid-19 like a golf club committee meeting, with only those who agree allowed into the cosy group. And it’s all orchestrated by Boris and his Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse – Rabb, Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove, Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
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Sturgeon is now openly asking the UK government to keep its nose out of Scotland. As Scotland is part of the UK and Johnson is the ultimate leader, that can be considered a sedition.
The thing is, his tone-deaf politics are moulding him into England’s prime minister only.
The people of the other UK nations are starting to see him that way and Sturgeon has shown she will not allow her country to be left rudderless. So she’s stepped up, filled the gap and made a defiant stand. The governments of Wales and Northern Ireland are now taking up the baton, too.
Johnson’s Covid-19 negligence has killed many thousands.
Now he’s fractured the bonds that hold the UK together – and he better be careful, as they look like they are ready to snap.
The borders are in effect closed, it won’t take much to make that permanent and wars have been fought over less.
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