BORIS Johnson touting the success of the vaccine roll-out scheme in the UK is akin to a captain who has “capsized the boat and now wants a lot of praise for the way he’s organising the life rafts”, an SNP MP has said.

Speaking on Sky News this afternoon, John Nicolson attacked the Prime Minister for his trip north of the Border.

The SNP MP said the trip was “clearly not absolutely necessary” and so in breach of both UK and Scottish Government guidance.

Nicolson said Johnson’s “900-mile return trip to go to a hospital and visit some barracks sets the wrong tone”. He added that politicians should not “behave differently to the way that they ask the rest of us to behave”.

The National: Boris Johnson met troops setting up a vaccination centre in CastlemilkBoris Johnson met troops setting up a vaccination centre in Castlemilk

The host highlighted how Johnson is the “Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, he is the Prime Minister of Scotland as well as England, he has a responsibility to Scotland”. She asked: “Wouldn’t you be criticising him if he didn’t leave a bunker in Downing Street for the duration of the pandemic?”

Nicolson replied: “I would certainly hope he’s not in a bunker in Downing Street, I would hope he is in his office, working.

“No, I wouldn’t criticise him for that at all. I certainly wouldn’t criticise anybody for observing the government guidelines. We are telling people to stay at home and not to make unnecessary journeys.

“Since the Prime Minister made this announcement I’ve had a mailbag from folk who’ve said to me that they’re simply desperate to go and visit their family and friends on the other side of the Border but they’re not allowed to do so.”

READ MORE: LISTEN: Glaswegians tell Boris Johnson exactly what they think of his visit

Nicolson suggested that Johnson’s trip to Scotland had “echoes of Dominic Cummings” and his eyesight-testing drive to Barnard Castle.

Sky’s host said the comparison was unfair as the Prime Minister is “not going on a jolly, he’s working, he’s going to check the progress of the vaccine roll-out”.

Nicolson argued that Johnson “is not working” and labelled the trip a “stunt”.

He said that the Prime Minister did not need to travel 900 miles to visit a hospital for a “photo opportunity”.

Speaking about NHS staff, Nicolson went on: “These folk are wrestling in the middle of a pandemic.

“The last thing they need is all the disturbance of a prime ministerial visit and for him to pretend he is helping them with packaging during a two-minute camera stunt. It is entirely wrong for him to be doing so.”

The National: Boris Johnson 'working' during a visit to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus in GlasgowBoris Johnson 'working' during a visit to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital campus in Glasgow

The SNP representative quipped that he generally welcomes Johnson’s visits to Scotland as it always drives up support for independence, but he said that now is “the wrong time”.

The host said the SNP may think it is the wrong time as the Prime Minister has “some good news to be talking about in terms of the vaccine roll-out”.

Nicolson said it was noticeable that Johnson wasn’t visiting fishing communities “as he normally does”, and suggested this was because of the “disastrous consequences” of the Tories’ Brexit deal.

READ MORE: Furious Scottish MP slams Boris Johnson for visiting his constituency

Although Nicolson accepted that the UK’s vaccine roll-out is going well, much faster than its European neighbours, he added: “It has to be said that this is in the context of the worst death toll in all of Europe, which has happened under the Prime Minister’s watch, so in a way he is the captain who has capsized the boat and now wants a lot of praise for the way he is organising the life rafts.”

He said that Johnson had not conducted himself with “the kind of leadership that all of us wanted and this stunt is yet more evidence of that”.

The presenter then commented on the timing of the Prime Minister’s trip, coming after “20 polls for a referendum” on Scottish independence. She asked what the SNP’s plans were if Johnson were to continue to refuse a Section 30 order.

Nicolson responded: “There’s elections in May and in the SNP’s manifesto will be a request for the public to give us permission to go ahead with what we hope will be a legal referendum.

READ MORE: Boris Johnson says Yes supporters have questions to answer over future of the Queen

“We were told during the 2014 referendum that this is a ‘Union of Equals’. If the people of Scotland speak clearly, and I hope they will, it will not be the place of 10 Downing Street to tell the people of Scotland what they can or cannot do with their future.”

Taking to social media after his interview, Nicolson shared some abuse from apparent supporters of the Prime Minister who had told the SNP MP to “keep your mouth shut and go play with your haggis”.

The SNP MP quipped that none of the “keyboard warriors” sending the abuse “seem wholly signed up to ‘Union of Equals’”.

Elsewhere, he commented that “Sky didn’t seem to be able to find anyone from the Scottish Tories earlier to debate me and defend [Johnson’s] trip”.