UK Prime Minister To Visit Scotland Amid Mounting Support For New Independence Vote

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th January, 2021) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is scheduled to visit Scotland on Thursday in a trip that has been called "not essential" by Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, whose fresh bid for another independence referendum has the support of the majority of the Scottish people, according to recent polls.

The trip was confirmed by Cabinet Minister Michael Gove, who told Sky news that Johnson will check on the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines and meet with the National Health Service staff and the military personnel working in the frontline against the pandemic.

"The prime minister ... has a responsibility to make sure the vaccine rollout is proceeding appropriately, to thank those on the frontline, NHS professionals and those in the British Army who are making sure that things work well," Gove said.

Sturgeon said on Wednesday that it is "not essential" for Johnson to travel to Scotland in the middle of the pandemic.

"We are living in a global pandemic and every day I stand and look down the camera and say 'don't travel unless it is essential, work from home if you possibly can' - that has to apply to all of us," she told reporters during her daily COVID-19 press briefing.

The leader of the Scottish semiautonomous government has repeatedly pledged that she will push for another independence referendum if her National Scottish Party wins the upcoming local elections in May.

Johnson has said, however, that the 2014 referendum, when Scotland voted against independence by 55 percent to 45 percent, was "once-in-a-generation vote," so London will not grant permission for another.

The Scottish First Minister argues that Brexit changed the whole scenario two years later, because Scotland was forced to leave the European Union although a large majority of the Scottish voters had opted for remaining within the bloc.

A recent poll commissioned by The Times newspaper showed that 49 percent of the people in Scotland backed independence compared to 44 percent against, but the margin was 52 percent to 48 percent if the undecided are excluded.