BORIS Johnson was asked if he accepted he is currently the biggest threat to the Union during a Downing Street press briefing – and failed to respond.

The Prime Minister was asked if he did not think he was a threat to the unity of the UK, then why did he think so many Scots now back independence?

Since Johnson was elected Prime Minister with a huge majority in December, opinion polls have shown support for Scottish independence steadily increasing.

At that vote, Scotland elected 48 pro-independence MPs while the Scottish Tories lost seven seats.

READ MORE: Scottish independence: Gove shrugs off polls showing Yes majority

The two most recent polls put the current backing for self-determination at 54%.

Yesterday, speaking in the Commons, Cabinet minister Michael Gove dismissed the growing calls for independence – saying polls “come and go”.

At his briefing this morning Johnson failed to give an answer to the question.

He told viewers he felt there had been “very good and very close collaboration” during the pandemic across the UK “despite the surface differences”.

He added: "It is thanks to the strength of the Union, I would say, that actually we've had the response that we've been able to muster as one whole United Kingdom."

Johnson’s approval ratings have dropped substantially throughout the pandemic, while First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s have risen.

The Prime Minister’s claim that the UK has responded to the virus “as one whole” UK has also been called into question.

Scotland’s strategy has differed from England’s increasingly, and is now “weeks away” from eliminating Covid-19 according to scientific experts.

Devi Sridhar, the public health expert who advises the Scottish Government on their response to the pandemic, has said it would take months for England to achieve elimination.