REMEMBER all the fond entreaties from Better Together in the final weeks of the 2014 referendum campaign? Scotland was told that it was loved and respected and if we remained, Scotland would lead the UK. We were told that we were an essential equal partner in a family of nations. Those blandishments have not aged well.
In the latest example from the British Government of "Shut up and get back in your box, Scotland" we have learned that Boris Johnson is determined to sideline the First Minister during the COP26 conference due to be held in Glasgow in order to prevent her from using it as "an advertisement for Scottish independence".
What Johnson is really afraid of is that the inclusion of the Scottish First Minister at an event attended by global leaders will merely highlight that the head of the Scottish Government is more than capable of holding her own in a gathering of world leaders, whereas Johnson will be shown up for the tawdry show-boating incompetent that he really is.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon fires back at Boris Johnson over plot to sideline her at COP26
It is a sad and pathetic indictment of the state of this so-called Union that the British Government refuses to involve Scotland in any official capacity in a global conference being held here. Previously Johnson had stated that he didn't want the First Minister anywhere near COP26, comments he's now backtracked on, presumably because it was explained to him that excluding official Scottish representation was a sure-fire way of ensuring a boost for independence support.
What is clear is that the British Government is both terrified of independence and clueless about what it can do to prevent it. Johnson need not worry about anyone ever mistaking him for being the equal of Nicola Sturgeon. He is hopelessly out-classed by her on every level.
This piece is an excerpt from today's REAL Scottish Politics newsletter, which is emailed out at 7pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Wee Ginger Dug.
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