The National:

SUPPORT for Scottish independence is on the rise, much to the dismay of the Tory Government.

They’ve tried everything – from ignoring the Scottish people to condescending the Scottish people – but nothing seems to be stopping the rot.

Fortunately, they’ve found the perfect formula to convince Scots that managing their own affairs is a deeply flawed and dangerous idea.

Why it’s Boris Johnson’s "optimistic fizz", of course.

The Etonian Brexiteer, who’s stumbled into the UK’s top job despite his best efforts to tarnish his own reputation, has never been given much reason to be pessimistic about anything. Everything just seems to work out fine.

But with the coronavirus crisis, and the knock-on impact on support for Scottish sovereignty, the PM risks seeing his legacy tarnished by a health crisis and the break-up of the Union.

READ MORE: Here's every single lie in Boris Johnson’s latest pro-Union newspaper article

But Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is confident the PM can weather the storm by drawing on his endless supply of optimism.

Speaking on Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, he rejected any suggestion that his boss could be the person that breaks the Union.

Raab said: “If you look at the approach we are taking, we want to be making really clear the impact that the UK has as a government, as a country, in all parts of the UK, and that includes in Scotland.”

“I always want to make sure we are one United Kingdom and we get this debate, we keep coming back to it, but I think if you look at the economic benefits, cultural togetherness, our clout on the international stage, we are much better as one United Kingdom.”

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He added: “I think what we need to do much more powerfully is make the positive case for it. I think if you look at referendums and elections recently there’s been a bit of ‘project fear’ that crept into all of them.

“I think we need to be more full-throated and heartfelt in making the case for the Union … and I think Boris Johnson is singularly well-placed because of that optimistic fizz he has about himself, and his leadership style, to make the case for the Union in that way.”

If Johnson’s “fizz” is truly the basis of the Westminster Government’s strategy, the No side has no chance.