Boris Johnson has dismissed calls for a second Scottish independence referendum as "irrelevant".
The Prime Minister said that the Covid crisis boosted the case for the UK holding together, pointing to the vaccine rollout as an example of the four nations working together.
Ms Sturgeon has said that she wants a second independence referendum in the “early part” of Holyrood’s next term this year.
But with typical verbosity, Mr Johnson branded the plan to hold a second referendum should the SNP win a majority in May's Holyrood election as “completely in-apposite, irrelevant, uncalled for and unnecessary.”
READ MORE: Neil Mackay - The Yes movement has been corrupted by hate and conspiracy.
He told The Sun newspaper: “The value of the Union has been massively underscored during this pandemic.
“I think most people looking at the way the UK has responded with the vaccine rollout can see the huge value of us working together as one United Kingdom.
"The UK armed forces and NHS distribution of the vaccine throughout one country has been fantastic," he added.
Mr Johnson belives in the strength of the union
Asked about ongoing drama surrounding the Alex salmond inquiry, Mr Johnson said: “I think the biggest lesson I take from all this is that it's important in these times to focus on the issues that really matter to the people of Britain.
"The more I read about other stuff, the more convinced I am that that's what we should focus on.”
READ MORE: Scottish independence - How support has changed
Mr Jonson added: "What the electorate in Scotland want is a government that focuses on their needs for education, fighting crime, governing sensibly with sensible policies on taxation and everything else.
“I don't see that from the Scottish National Party. I don’t see that at all and I'd rather hold them to account for that."
And he said: “The idea of having a referendum now, is absolutely extraordinary.
"Or having a referendum, anytime in the foreseeable future, given what this country's just been through and what we've got to do.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel