Jeremy Corbyn would not fight to save the Union if he caved into Nicola Sturgeon’s demands of a second Scottish independence referendum, Boris Johnson has warned.
The Prime Minister even suggested that his Labour rival may throw his weight behind the separatist campaign, and questioned the left-winger’s commitment to keeping the United Kingdom glued together.
Mr Corbyn may have to rely on SNP support to springboard him over the threshold of Number 10, and has refused to rule out striking a deal with Nicola Sturgeon.
A re-run of the 2012 vote is a red line for the Scottish First Minister, who has also predicted the Labour leader would not block another independence ballot if granting one was the price of power.
Painting a grim picture of an SNP-backed Labour government, Mr Johnson pointed to Mr Corbyn’s neutrality on Brexit and historic sympathies with the IRA as evidence that the wannabe PM may rally around Scottish independence.
Jeremy Corbyn’s support for the Union was questioned yesterday by Boris Johnson who suggested the Labour leader (pictured in an interview with Andrew Neil yesterday) could throw his weight behind the separatist campaign in a second independence referendum
Painting a grim picture of an SNP-backed Labour government, Mr Johnson (pictured in a hangar on a visit to the International Aviation Academy, Norwich, yesterday) pointed to Mr Corbyn’s neutrality on Brexit and historic sympathies with the IRA as evidence
In an interview with the Telegraph after launching his Scottish manifesto in Fife, the Conservative leader said: ‘I’m not even certain on what side Jeremy Corbyn would campaign in indy ref two. Send out another search party to discover the Corbyn position.
‘It’s yet another mystery – we’ve got Shergar, the Loch Ness monster, Corbyn’s Brexit position and now Corbyn’s position on the Union.
‘Obviously he actively supports the break-up of the Union with Northern Ireland and throughout his political career he has supported the IRA.’
The Prime Minister also sought to appeal to Scottish unionists, by pledging a cast-iron guarantee he will not grant a second referendum if he wins on December 12.
Mr Corbyn has said another independence vote would not be on the table in the ‘early years’ of a Labour government.
But Mr Johnson forecast the Labour leader would lose a ‘collision of wills’ with Ms Sturgeon, who is pushing to get the ball rolling quickly for a referendum.
The SNP leader herself has also predicted Mr Corbyn will not turn down her offer, rubbishing the claim he would reject the chance of kicking the Tories out of Downing Street just to postpone the ballot by a couple of years.
In his aggressive attack interview on the SNP, Mr Johnson also tore into the party’s tunnel vision on independence which he said it uses as a smokescreen to distract from failings in the Scottish government.
Mr Corbyn may have to rely on SNP support to springboard him over the threshold of Number 10, and has refused to rule out striking a deal with Nicola Sturgeon (pictured at Cookies Play Cafe in Uddingston yesterday)
He was scathing about Ms Sturgeon’s failure to get to grips with missed A&E waiting times, failing public services and tumbling standards in schools.
But the First Minister hit back: ‘The SNP is spending in Scotland £136 per head, more on front-line health services than in England.
‘This amounts to over £740 million more spending per year on front-line health services in Scotland compared to the UK.
‘Now, given our rural population, there should always be higher per capita spend in Scotland.
‘However, if the next UK Government raised health spending per head to the current Scottish level, closing that gap, it would not only substantially increase health investment in England, but would mean that by 2024-25, front-line investment to NHS Scotland would be more than £4 billion higher than today.
‘A vote for the SNP is therefore a vote to reverse austerity and to protect and to protect our NHS.’
Ms Sturgeon was also on the receiving end of a grilling by the BBC’s Andrew Neil this week, where he picked apart the Remainer’s blueprint for Scotland to join the EU as an independent country.
The forensic interviewer put to the First Minister that, while she claims Brexit would risk thousands of jobs, leaving the UK would wipe out thousands more.
Ms Sturgeon will look to shake off the defensive interview when she today launches her party’s manifesto in Glasgow.
She is expected to warn ‘there is worse to come’ if the Conservatives win a majority in the December 12 election.
Ms Sturgeon will urge the next UK Government to up health spending to £136 per person, a total of £35 billion extra – which would equate to an extra £4 billion for Scotland’s NHS.
As well as accusing Mr Corbyn of sitting on the fence over Brexit, the Prime Minister further blamed him for being neutral on the anti-Semitism crisis raging in the Labour party (Corbyn interview with Andrew Neil in which he refused four times to apologies to Jews)
She will also detail her plans for negotiations with a Labour minority government, including the funding pledges for the NHS which are higher than any other party.
The First Minister will say: ‘At the heart of this election is a fundamental question for the people of Scotland – who should decide Scotland’s future – the people who live here or Boris Johnson? The future of our country is on the line.
‘The reality of Westminster control over Scotland is this – a right-wing Tory Government Scotland didn’t vote for and a Prime Minister in Boris Johnson who is dangerous and unfit for office.
‘It means Tory cuts to the Scottish budget, the NHS under threat from a Tory-Trump trade deal, a power grab on the Scottish Parliament, children being forced into poverty and a disastrous Brexit deal that will hit jobs, living standards and workers’ rights.’
‘But there is worse to come – unless Boris Johnson is stopped this will just be the start.’
‘Brexit is nowhere near being done. The Tories have barely got going – they haven’t even started trade talks.’
Meanwhile Mr Corbyn will look to wrestle the campaign agenda back on to his natural turf such as the NHS after a storm of negative headlines over Labour anti-Semitism.
As well as accusing Mr Corbyn of sitting on the fence over Brexit, the Prime Minister further blamed him for being neutral on the anti-Semitism crisis raging in the Labour party.
Mr Corbyn has been dogged by allegations of facilitating anti-Jewish racism since he became leader in 2015, which blew up yesterday after an unprecedented election intervention by the Chief Rabbi, who said the Labour leader was ‘unfit for high office’.
He yesterday refused four times to apologies to the Jewish community during a head-to-head with Andrew Neil, prompting an even greater backlash.
