Boris Johnson has taken a jab at the SNP by claiming there would not have been a single Covid-19 vaccine in Scotland if it was up to Nicola Sturgeon.
The Prime Minister is reported to have told a meeting of backbench Tory MPs that the strength of the Union meant that the vaccine could be delivered to people across the UK.
According to one MP the Tory leader was responding to a question from a Scottish MP about the SNP when he made the comment.
One MP in the virtual meeting told the Guardian: “He said if it were up to the SNP then there wouldn’t have been a single vaccine delivered in Scotland. It was a UK effort, in other words and needed the clout of a big government.”
Johnson also took a swipe at the SNP in the Commons on Wednesday, reminding Ian Blackford that “it is thanks to our United Kingdom NHS, thanks to the strength of UK companies, that we are able to distribute a life-saving vaccine across the whole of our country.”
Asked about Johnson’s comments the Prime Minister’s press secretary, Allegra Stratton, said she had not been present at the meeting of the 1922 Committee.
But she said: “In terms of the broader point about the vaccine, there’s no doubt that the union’s been critical in the development, production and administration of the vaccine, and indeed across a range of measures, the UK governments during this pandemic, we have all worked together to provide for the British people.
“I think on Monday Nicola Sturgeon said they have 100,000 vaccines in Scotland. It’s great news for the Scottish people but it’s been a collective effort.”
The comments came after an online spat between Tories and the SNP over the Scottish government dropping references to Oxford from the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.
A spokesman for the SNP said: "These comments are as crass as they are inaccurate and show once again how desperate the Tories are to politicise the pandemic.”
“The development of the vaccines has bene and global effort and our focus is on ensuring we vaccinate people in Scotland as quickly and safely as it is possible to do so.”
