FORMER prime minister Tony Blair said Scottish independence is "a possibility" and Boris Johnson is "not going to be the person who is going to save the Union".

Appearing on Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Blair said it is not in Scotland's interests to seek independence as the economic and cultural ties of the UK are "strong".

However, he said it is now "hard to judge" if the Union will surivive.

He stated: "My view of Scotland is there's been two problems really over the last decade – the first obviously was after Brexit, but then even before that, because the Labour Party went off, in my view, completely the wrong direction in Scotland and the Conservative Party, at least until Ruth Davidson, looked as if they were nowhere, there was no proper opposition to the SNP.

"I think if the Labour Party as it is reviving in England and Wales revives also in Scotland, that would be a significant advantage to preserving the Union."

Boris Johnson's recent visit to Orkney and Moray was taken by some critics as a sign of his concern about the future of the UK.

When asked about the PM's performance, Blair said the Tory leader is "not going to be the person to save the Union", and also chose to criticise Labour's performance in Scotland, commenting: "We do need a viable opposition in Scotland and they've not really had one.

"The Labour Party went off to the left and then played around with nationalist sentiment instead of being clearly in the centre-left position as the opposition, then other than that period of time when Ruth Davidson was leading the Tories there was noone who was able to provide a coherent alternative to Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP."

However, Blair said he thinks recently installed Labour leader Keir Starmer is doing "a great job" at the top of the party: "I talk to him from time to time, as I'm sure he does with other former Labour leaders, and I think he's done a great job.

"He's made the Labour party competitive again.

"There is still a long way to go on policy but he's made a really impressive start."