UK could split apart if Boris becomes Prime Minister, ex-PM Gordon Brown claims
THE UK could split apart if Boris Johnson gets into Number 10, former PM Gordon Brown has claimed.
In a stinging attack on the frontrunner to be the next Tory leader and prime minister, Brown said he could risk Scotland breaking away from the rest of the country.
Ahead of a speech this morning he wrote in the Daily Mail that Boris was seen as "the best recruiting sergeant for Scottish independence they could ever wish for" and would force them to push for a second referendum.
He said the Brexiteers had opposed the pillars of Scottish democracy and wouldn't help them in their time of need.
In a lengthy rant Mr Brown wrote: "Already, polls in Scotland suggest he has driven hitherto unionist voters into the arms of the SNP, and, as a result of such inflammatory rhetoric, few Scots believe the Union would be safe in his hands.
"Few now doubt that, whether through ignorance, carelessness or malice, he would be prepared to play fast and loose with the Union when it suits his personal electoral needs — not least by whipping up English nationalist fervour against the prospect of Scottish nationalists holding the balance of power in the UK."
He claimed the Union "is in mortal danger" - more so now than for the past 300 years, because of "competing, antagonistic nationalisms".
"The fate of the Union cannot be ignored in the contest for our next Prime Minister," he stressed.
But Mr Brown didn't mention Boris' rival Jeremy Hunt at all in the article.
Mr Hunt took a trip to Scotland at the weekend to promise he would protect the Union better.
In a day of action-packed photo opportunities north of the border, Mr Hunt took the helm of a fishing boat, ate fish and chips, drank a can of Irn Bru and dressed up as a fishmonger.
Just last week Boris said that he would "never" put the UK at risk and wouldn't sign up to a second referendum on independence.
He added: "The United Kingdom truly is better together and we must never put that at risk."
And Boris's allies insisted he would swat the SNP like a midge if he got into Number 10.
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