No second Scottish referendum, Boris Johnson tells Nicola Sturgeon
There will be no second Scottish independence referendum, Boris Johnson has told Nicola Sturgeon, despite the SNP clearing up north of the border during last month’s general election.
Sturgeon has been attempting to pile the pressure onto the Prime Minister since claiming 48 seats in the December poll, 8.1 per cent more than in the last general election in 2017, when it won 35 seats. The Tories lost seven seats, while Labour lost six and the Liberal Democrats were net flat, despite leader Jo Swinson being booted out of her Dunbartonshire East seat.
Sturgeon, who said the result was better than expected, has been pushing for Downing Street to commit to a second referendum.
However in a letter to the First Minister, Johnson said the 2014 plebiscite had been “a once in a generation” vote that he would not reopen.
“The people of Scotland voted decisively on that promise to keep our United Kingdom together, a result which both the Scottish and UK Governments committed to respect in the Edinburgh Agreement,” he wrote.
His government would “continue to uphold the democratic decision of the Scottish people and the promise that you made to them,” he added.
A second referendum would cause “political stagnation”, he said, claiming that Scottish schools, healthcare and jobs had already been “left behind because of a campaign to separate the UK”.
Johnson added: “It is time we all worked to bring the whole of the United Kingdom together and unleash the potential of this great country.”