Boris Johnson avoids facing difficult questions as he visits Scotland

Boris Johnson is in Scotland this week and faces lots of difficult questions.

At least he would do, if the Prime Minister hadn’t committed to the absolute bare minimum of access for media and the public.

There is, of course, the usual SNP complaints about Mr Johnson not speaking for Scotland, but in truth these criticisms are irrelevant.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is shown a vessel undergoing refit for the Ukrainian Navy during a visit to Rosyth Dockyard near Edinburgh, as part of his tour of the UK. Picture date: Monday February 14, 2022.

The Prime Minister may not be adored in Scotland, but he’s still the leader of the UK.

Sir Keir Starmer warned he was damaging the Union with his visit, but again, hiding away is not going to help Mr Johnson persuade voters to support Scotland’s place in the UK.

The issue is not that Mr Johnson is coming to Scotland, it’s what he does when he visits.

Through Monday the Prime Minister visited a shipyard in Rosyth and did a brief pool clip interview with broadcasters.

This generated news lines on the Ukraine crisis, which is, of course, the focus of this week, but gave little to no access to Scottish journalists.

To give you a peak behind the curtain, visits by ministers or leaders usually see a huddle, where the politician will speak to local journalists who can then ask them about issues relevant to their area and readers.

In a trend for Mr Johnson’s visits to Scotland, there was no huddle and so Downing Street had control of the news stories being generated.

There was no chance to ask about the joint prospectus from the SNP and Greens, to go into detail about his row with Douglas Ross, or even let him make the case for the Union.

Mr Johnson is one of the greatest campaigners in modern politics, and while his hesitance to engage with Scottish media and issues is tactical, to many it looks like cowardice.

We do not hear him explaining how he and the Scottish Tory leader can continue to exist, just that he won’t meet.

Every party gets a fair hearing. If the Prime Minister spoke on Scotland, his words would have value and weight.

But in doing a brief clip and getting out, Mr Johnson is visiting the country without ever really campaigning to anyone in it.