London - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Scottish
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as he took his Brexit campaign to
Scotland on Monday, but he was criticised for failing to contact his
Irish counterpart.
Johnson visited a submarine base in Scotland ahead of his talks with
Sturgeon, who has warned that the appointment of Johnson to succeed
Theresa May as Conservative prime minister makes holding a referendum
on Scottish independence "more important than ever"
"As we prepare for our bright future after Brexit, it's vital we
renew the ties binding our United Kingdom," Johnson said ahead of of
the talks, promising an extra 300 million pounds (372 million
dollars) to support growth in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Johnson said he also plans to visit Northern Ireland to discuss the
restoration of the territory's devolved power-sharing government,
which has been suspended since January 2017.
Michelle O'Neill, Irish republican party Sinn Fein's leader in
Northern Ireland, accused him of a "highly offensive" snub of Irish
Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, after Johnson apparently failed to
contact him since he took office on Wednesday.
O'Neill said she raised Johnson's failure to call Varadkar with
Britain's new Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith in Belfast on
Monday.
"That is highly offensive given the disastrous impact of Brexit on
the island of Ireland," she said.
Johnson has spoken to other leaders by phone since taking office,
including US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel
Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the European Commission
president Jean-Claude Juncker.
The Daily Telegraph reported earlier Monday that he will launch the
biggest British government propaganda campaign since World War II in
a bid to rally the public behind his Brexit plan.
Johnson's Conservative government will spend some 100 million pounds
(123 million dollars) on advertising over the next three months as a
major part of the campaign, the newspaper quoted unidentified
government sources as saying.
It said the drive will be "the biggest advertising campaign since the
Second World War to get Britain ready for a no-deal Brexit, with an
unprecedented marketing blitz on billboards, radio and television."."
Johnson has vowed to withdraw Britain from the EU by the delayed exit
date of October 31, with or without a deal.
His government is "operating on the assumption" that Britain will
leave without a deal, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove wrote in
The Sunday Times.
Gove, who is in leading the no-deal preparations, said "the entire
machinery of government will work flat-out" to prepare for a no-deal
Brexit.
The preparations for leaving the EU without a deal prompted a flurry
of new warnings about the potential economic effects on Monday.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which represents some
190,000 businesses, said its analysis of British and EU preparations
suggested that "no one is ready for no deal."
"We can reduce but not remove the damage of no deal," said Josh
Hardie, the CBI's deputy director-general.
"It's not just about queues at ports; the invisible impact of
severing services trade overnight would harm firms across the
country," Hardie said.