Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Union army: Number 10 to draft dozens more staff to combat SNP

UK Government union
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak.

Boris Johnson’s team of union advisers is to triple in size this year, marking a major change in the UK Government’s approach to the SNP and Scottish independence.

It is understood the issue has been made a top priority in Downing Street, with the prime minister privately admitting not enough time has been devoted to securing the Union during the Brexit and coronavirus crises.

In response, the newly formed “union directorate”, headed by Dominic Cummings’ protégé, Oliver Lewis, will draft as many as “30 to 50” officials to help formulate policy and hone communications, we understand.

The directorate, which currently employs 15 people, replaces the ill-fated union unit that lost its head, Luke Graham, last month.

One senior government source likened the team’s challenge to that faced by US generals in Vietnam.

Using inflammatory language, they said: “The strategy has been a bit like the US dealing with the Viet Cong.

“The generals there were playing chess, trying to land that killer blow, but the game they should have been playing was Go, where you surround the opposing side.

“We need a much more holistic approach against the SNP, there needs to be work with charities, opinion formers and civil society to change people’s minds.

“There’s too much soft support for independence.”

The provisions in the Internal Market Bill allowing Westminster to spend directly in Scotland, the Turing scheme and the shared prosperity fund are all part of that “holistic approach”, we’re told.

Such schemes have garnered criticism from the Scottish Government, however, as they, in effect, supplant the devolution settlement.

Nicola Sturgeon has criticised the Internal Market Bill.

‘SNP never front up’

But those in Westminster are unconcerned by such complaints, a source told us: “The SNP never front up if something has been made possible through UK Government funding, we need to show people what the UK Government is doing.”

The SNP’s deputy Westminster leader, Kirsten Oswald, said the Number 10 manoeuvres demonstrated a second independence referendum is coming.

She said: “It’s now beyond any doubt that the Tories are gearing up for a referendum on Scotland’s right to choose, which they now accept is inevitable.

“People in Scotland have the right to determine their own future in a post-pandemic referendum. Boris Johnson knows he cannot stand in the way of democracy any more than Donald Trump.”

She added: “It is outrageous for the prime minister’s taxpayer-funded advisers to paint people in Scotland as the enemy and to use the language of war.

“It’s no wonder the growing majority of people in Scotland want to escape Westminster, and build a country based on compassion and equality, instead of this ridiculous rhetoric.”

Number 10 last week justified the creation of the union directorate, dismissing accusations it had been born out of “panic” over surging support for Scottish independence.

The prime minister’s spokesman said: “Our focus is to ensure that we deliver for people across the United Kingdom and that’s what the union directorate will allow us to do.”