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MURE DICKIE: Visiting Edinburgh for the first time is UK prime minister. Boris Johnson was met by a booing crowd of Scottish independence supporters. Mr Johnson has doubters across Scotland's political spectrum. Many members of his own Scottish Conservative and Unionist party fear that his unpopularity north of the border and his apparent willingness to leave the EU without a deal could prove disastrous for the unity of the United Kingdom.
Leaving the EU on any terms is unpopular in Scotland, which in 2016 voted by 62% to 38% to remain. Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party says that a no-deal Brexit could plunge the country into recession and cost 100,000 Scottish jobs. That kind of economic damage, created by a leader that many Scots see as an upper class Englishman unsympathetic to their interests, would be likely to boost support for Scottish independence.
Amid such worries, Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, has publicly said herself against Mr Johnson and no-deal, saying that she could not support leaving the EU without an agreement. Ms Davidson and the new prime minister made a show of unity during his visit, but the obvious differences between them could be a major handicap for the party in an early UK general election. And any loss of the party's 13 Scottish seats would make it much harder to win an overall UK majority and would embolden the pro-independence S&P.
After his meeting with Ms Sturgeon, Mr Johnson was able to avoid the booing crowds by the highly unusual method of leaving the First Minister's official residence by the back door. But the political and constitutional tensions created by his Brexit policies could prove harder to escape.
