Johnson fuels independence by assuring that Scotland's autonomy was a "disaster"

The indignation aired on Tuesday by the Scottish pro-independence activists has barely been able to hide their enthusiasm at the latest gaffe by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

His opinion on the transfer of powers and self-government to Scotland, approved in 1998 - "the biggest disaster north of the border", and "the worst mistake made by Tony Blair", according to Johnson - has caused a new political storm.

The British prime minister, held in Downing Street after it was learned that a Conservative MP with whom he met last week had tested positive for the coronavirus, held a video conference on Monday with the 67 English MPs who have created the

(Northern Studies Group).

Many of them are the same ones who promoted Brexit from the conservative bench, and who now demand greater investments for the north of England.

His speech, which is intended to strengthen the

vote

[the term that refers to the Conservatives] in

a

region

impoverished, it does not hide the desire to establish an English nationalism that pursues the same advantages as the autonomy and devolution of powers that they provided to Scotland, and to a lesser extent, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Johnson once again made use of his habitual verbal incontinence, in a virtual meeting that was supposed to be private, with the purpose of obtaining the complicity of his interlocutors.

Hours later,

newspaper

published the Prime Minister's comments.

The result has been to further aggravate tension with the nationalist Scottish government of Nicola Sturgeon, put the region's conservatives in a bind, and give the SNP (Scottish National Party) the campaign slogan for free. elections next May.

“These comments from the Prime Minister should be marked for the next time the

say they pose no threat to the powers of the Scottish Parliament.

Or even, even more unbelievably, when they say they support more transfers, "Chief Minister Sturgeon wrote on her Twitter account.

"The only way to protect and strengthen the Scottish Parliament is through independence."

Johnson's arrival in Downing Street, and especially his erratic management of the pandemic, has given wings to Scottish independence.

A recent

ranked for the first time the majority (51%) of supporters of separation from the United Kingdom, compared to 49% who chose to remain.

More alarming for London, however, was the poll published by

, which excluded undecided citizens (and therefore unlikely to go to the polls) from the count.

Among those already decided, 56% supported independence, compared to 44% who were against.

Johnson's team has been unable on Tuesday to deny the prime minister's comments, among other things because Johnson's rejection of holding a second referendum on Scottish independence is known.

They have tried to turn the argument around by blaming nationalists in power in that community for having governed with an eye toward independence, after failing their first attempt, in the 2014 referendum (55% of Scots voted for please stay in the UK).

"The prime minister has always been in favor of autonomy, and this government always puts the Union at the center of all its policies," said a Johnson spokesman.

The Scottish conservatives, who are in a marginalized situation in that territory, have not been able to hide their desolation at Johnson's comments, when there are barely six months left for the holding of a regional elections to which they go with their hands tied.

Its leader, Douglas Ross, who already warned the party at the last national congress of the need to adapt his speech to the resurgence of autonomist sentiment in Scotland, tried to amend Johnson without exposing him: “What I defend is that autonomy must serve so that those who govern us improve education, health or justice.

May it serve to provide funds to municipalities or to rebuild our economy during this pandemic, ”Ross told

.

Scottish nationalists have not been alone in their irritation.

The Welsh Labor Government has also been tough on Johnson's words: "When you scratch the surface of the Conservative Party, their old hostility towards the transfer of powers resurfaces," said Mark Draeford, Wales's chief minister.

"And that's what happened, when the Prime Minister thought he could brag in front of a group of MPs from the north of England."

The SNP has already made it clear that it will launch the preparations for a new independence referendum (

, as it is already known) for next year, once the results of elections to the autonomous parliament are known, which they hope to destroy. The desolation of the Scottish conservatives was expressed this Tuesday through anonymous comments, so as not to put more salt on the wound: “We have just written the SNP electoral propaganda for May against us: why stand for Parliament if your own leader [Johnson] doubts its existence? ”One of them told

newspaper

.