Boris Johnson: Scottish independence vote is 'uncalled for and irrelevant'

He also seemed to rule out a referendum “anytime in the foreseeable future”, saying he thought it would be inappropriate given the Covid pandemic.

The SNP accused the Prime Minister of continuing with his "Trump-like denial of democracy".

In an interview with the Sun newspaper, Boris Johnson said Nicola Sturgeon asking for a Section 30 order would be “completely inapposite, irrelevant, uncalled for and unnecessary”.

Johnson said: “The idea of having a referendum now, is absolutely extraordinary, or having a referendum anytime in the foreseeable future, given what this country's just been through and what we've got to do.”

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The ongoing pandemic has seen support for independence become the sustained majority position in Scotland. A total of 22 consecutive polls from June 2020 to February 2021 suggested a Yes vote would win a referendum.

The most recent poll showed the nation split down the middle on the question once Don’t Knows were excluded. However, pro-independence parties are expected to command a dominant majority in Holyrood after the May elections, according to that same poll.

The Prime Minister insisted that the pandemic had actually strengthened the case for the Union.

He said: “The value of the Union has been massively underscored during this pandemic.

“I think most people looking at the way the UK has responded with the vaccine rollout can see the huge value of us working together as one United Kingdom.

"The UK armed forces and NHS distribution of the vaccine throughout one country has been fantastic.”

The Sun asked the Prime Minister about the dispute between Sturgeon and her predecessor, Alex Salmond.

Unlike his colleagues in Scotland, Johnson avoided criticising either of the SNP leaders on the issue. He said: “I think the biggest lesson I take from all this is that it's important in these times to focus on the issues that really matter to the people of Britain.

"The more I read about other stuff, the more convinced I am that that's what we should focus on.

"What the electorate in Scotland want is a government that focuses on their needs for education, fighting crime, governing sensibly with sensible policies on taxation and everything else.

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“I don't see that from the Scottish National Party. I don’t see that at all and I'd rather hold them to account for that."

Ipsos MORI polling from last week found that the constitutional question was the most important issue for supporters of the three largest parties in Scotland.

Overall, 44% of voters said it was the biggest issue for them when deciding how to cast their vote, with Tory supporters the most likely to cite it in their reasoning.

Johnson, who created himself the Minister for the Union role after he became Prime Minister, is now also the chair of a Cabinet committee tasked with saving the Union.

The all-male panel has replaced the Union Unit as the head of Downing Street's strategy on holding the UK together.

An SNP spokesperson said: "The elections in May will be about Scotland's right to choose its own future. Do the people of Scotland want their future in the hands of the likes of Boris Johnson and the Tories or does Scotland want to put its future into its own hands.

"Boris Johnson cannot continue his Trump-like denial of democracy.

"It will be for the people of Scotland to decide their future - not Boris Johnson. The only way to do that and to hold a post-pandemic referendum is by giving both votes to the SNP in May."