London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 30, 2025

UK break-up would be ‘all Boris Johnson is remembered for’- Gordon Brown

UK break-up would be ‘all Boris Johnson is remembered for’- Gordon Brown

The break of the United Kingdom would be Boris Johnson’s lasting and defining legacy if Scotland successfully seeks independence, former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown has warned the prime minister.
The argument over Scottish independence has intensified following the SNP’s election victory, which also produced a larger pro-independence majority in the Scottish parliament last week.

The prime minister has shown few signs of engaging with the question since last week’s results, saying only that focus should be on the Covid recovery and not on another independence referendum.

Mr Brown claimed Mr Johnson’s lasting legacy would be losing Scotland if the country becomes independent, adding he believes the PM does not “understand” the union.

“I think he had one sentence in his speech yesterday, the Queen’s Speech, about the union itself,” he told Times Radio on Wednesday. “I don’t think he’s thought about it, I don’t think he understands it – I think he’s got to start beginning to understand it.”

“He’s a historian, he must remember that Lord North was the prime minister who lost America and that’s all he’s remembered for. If Boris Johnson becomes the prime minister who loses Scotland … that’s all he will be remembered for.

The former PM added: “We need to give some attention to this issue, and we need to do it pretty urgently.”

Mr Brown’s think tank Our Scottish Future has become a “campaigning movement” for Scotland to remain in the UK and fundamental reform of the union since the Holyrood election.

He has called for a permanent forum of all the nations and regions to be set up where issues can be discussed, including the leaders of the devolved administrations and English mayors.

Mr Brown has railed against the “muscular unionism” of the current Tory government, which has said it would like to finance projects in Scotland through local authorities as opposed to Nicola Sturgeon’s government.

It comes as the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford said the Tory government was living in a “parallel universe” by claiming the his party had not won a mandate for indyref2 in Scotland.

Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, Mr Blackford told MPs that the pro-independence majority at Holyrood meant there was a “fresh democratic commitment to give the Scottish people the right to choose an independent future”

He added: “The prime minister needs to reflect on this reality. A fight with democracy is a fight he will never, not ever, win.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
Explosive Email Shows Sarah Ferguson Begged Forgiveness from Jeffrey Epstein After Taking His Money
×