Boris Johnson has ‘fragile male ego’, suggests Nicola Sturgeon
First minister tells Vogue why she thinks PM sends Michael Gove to negotiate with devolved governments
Nicola Sturgeon has suggested Boris Johnson’s “fragile male ego” is the reason why he sends Michael Gove to do the bulk of the negotiating with devolved governments.
The first minister said Johnson had a different approach to dealing with devolved administrations from his predecessors. In an interview with Vogue magazine discussing her approach to the climate crisis before the Cop26 summit in Glasgow, Sturgeon was asked about her working relationship with the prime minister.
She said: “He tends to delegate most of his interactions with the devolved governments to Michael Gove. That’s fine, Michael Gove and I work together well, but it’s a different approach to his predecessors.”
Asked why she thought this was the case, she said: “Maybe it’s just a bit of a fragile male ego. He seems to have a disinclination to be, metaphorically speaking, in the same room as me. It’s odd.”
On her campaign for Scottish independence, the first minister said: “There’s no status quo: the UK that people wanted to stay a part of in 2014 arguably does not exist any longer.”
She also spoke about the importance of the Cop26 summit’s attempt to limit global warming to 1.5C. “It probably is the last chance the world has to reach an agreement that is specific enough to meet the Paris 1.5 degrees target,” she said. “It’s a massive opportunity, but I think there will be a real difficulty if that opportunity is not taken.”
Discussing the future of the oil and gas industry, an important part of Scotland’s economy, she said: “This has not been an easy thing for somebody in my position and in the political tradition I come from to say, but we have to ask ourselves whether new exploration for oil and gas is consistent with meeting the climate change imperatives.”
Sturgeon is starting to make a new case for independence in the Scottish government’s first legislative programme since last month’s cooperation deal with the Scottish Greens.
Her new legislative programme follows the Scottish election campaign in May. Sturgeon recommitted to one key plank of the power-sharing deal to hold a referendum on independence within the first half of this parliament and before the end of 2023.
Stating that the “immediate priority of this government is to lead Scotland out of the pandemic”, Sturgeon also pledged measures to tackle the country’s continuing stark rates of child poverty, including a delivery plan for “wraparound childcare”, offering care for families on low incomes before and after school and during holidays.
The first minister said Johnson had a different approach to dealing with devolved administrations from his predecessors. In an interview with Vogue magazine discussing her approach to the climate crisis before the Cop26 summit in Glasgow, Sturgeon was asked about her working relationship with the prime minister.
She said: “He tends to delegate most of his interactions with the devolved governments to Michael Gove. That’s fine, Michael Gove and I work together well, but it’s a different approach to his predecessors.”
Asked why she thought this was the case, she said: “Maybe it’s just a bit of a fragile male ego. He seems to have a disinclination to be, metaphorically speaking, in the same room as me. It’s odd.”
On her campaign for Scottish independence, the first minister said: “There’s no status quo: the UK that people wanted to stay a part of in 2014 arguably does not exist any longer.”
She also spoke about the importance of the Cop26 summit’s attempt to limit global warming to 1.5C. “It probably is the last chance the world has to reach an agreement that is specific enough to meet the Paris 1.5 degrees target,” she said. “It’s a massive opportunity, but I think there will be a real difficulty if that opportunity is not taken.”
Discussing the future of the oil and gas industry, an important part of Scotland’s economy, she said: “This has not been an easy thing for somebody in my position and in the political tradition I come from to say, but we have to ask ourselves whether new exploration for oil and gas is consistent with meeting the climate change imperatives.”
Sturgeon is starting to make a new case for independence in the Scottish government’s first legislative programme since last month’s cooperation deal with the Scottish Greens.
Her new legislative programme follows the Scottish election campaign in May. Sturgeon recommitted to one key plank of the power-sharing deal to hold a referendum on independence within the first half of this parliament and before the end of 2023.
Stating that the “immediate priority of this government is to lead Scotland out of the pandemic”, Sturgeon also pledged measures to tackle the country’s continuing stark rates of child poverty, including a delivery plan for “wraparound childcare”, offering care for families on low incomes before and after school and during holidays.
