Boris Johnson claims to have a “very good relationship” with Ruth Davidson despite the Scottish Tory leader’s refusal to back him in the race for Downing Street.
The former foreign secretary denied that Ms Davidson was “against” him and expressed his pride that north-east MPs Ross Thomson, Andrew Bowie, Colin Clark and Douglas Ross have so far backed his leadership bid.
The comments came a day after Ms Davidson and the majority of her MSPs announced that they would be backing rival Jeremy Hunt.
Ms Davidson has been a persistent and longtime critic of Mr Johnson and was even reported to have banned him from appearing at last month’s Scottish Conservative conference in Aberdeen.
But Mr Johnson, in an interview with Tory website ConHome, rejected the assertion that his election as Tory leader would damage the Scottish party and the Union.
He said: “I have a very good relationship with Ruth Davidson indeed. We have several Scottish colleagues now who are openly backing me. I’m very proud of that.”
The former London mayor went on to argue that “the Union will be greatly strengthened by getting Brexit done in a sensible way”.
He said: “Once we get Brexit done, there’ll be lots of things we can do to cement and strengthen the Union, to champion the Union between England and Scotland, and the Union between Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Union with Wales.
“There are all sorts of ways in which we can show the value of the awesome foursome and take it forward.”
He added: “Do you really think that the Scots Nats, once we leave, are going to have a song to sing about leaving the UK and joining the EU?
“And joining the euro, joining the Schengen area, submitting Scotland to EU rules, losing control of fish in Scotland to the EU? Really? Absolutely not.
“This thing, far from damaging the Union, Brexit is going to make life very, very difficult for the SNP indeed.”
The comments came as the European parliament’s Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt rubbished Mr Johnson’s Brexit plan, likening it to the “false promises, pseudo-patriotism, and foreigner-bashing” he is said to have used to win the referendum.
The suggestion from the Tory leadership frontrunner that he will be able to dump Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement, withhold the UK’s £39 bilion divorce bill and still negotiate a free trade deal in Brussels were also savaged by Verhofstadt.
He said Mr Johnson and Mr Hunt, who both claim they can renegotiate the Theresa May’s deal, had “learned nothing whatsoever”.
