Johnson ‘fit as a butcher’s dog’, self-isolates after COVID scare

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the granting of greater powers of self-governance to the Scottish parliament a "disaster" during a call with Conservative MPs, The Sun reported yesterday.

"The PM is well and does not have any symptoms of COVID-19", the statement added.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is self-isolating after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, a fresh setback after infighting among his top advisers plunged Downing Street into chaos last week.

During Johnson's call with 60 Conservative MPs, he also promised to pump billions more into infrastructure, telling they will get the largest financial commitment to infrastructure in 70 years, the report said.

Mr Johnson told Downing Street staff in a virtual address on Monday morning that he is "fit and well" and said the ambition of the Government was "absolutely undimmed and, if anything, growing the whole time".

In a sign of the nervousness that Johnson's comments caused among Scots who support staying part of the United Kingdom, the Conservative leader in Scotland, Douglas Ross, immediately contradicted the prime minister.

"He will carry on working from Downing Street, including on leading the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic", the spokesman said.

"And actually, it doesn't matter that I've had the disease and I'm bursting with antibodies".

Johnson contracted the virus in April and spent three days in intensive care as his symptoms worsened.

UK Prime Minister to self-isolate

Johnson's confinement came as negotiations with the European Union over Brexit enter a decisive final sprint.

Mr Johnson said he was self-isolating with a "high heart" that the country was getting on top of the virus, describing the development of rapid speed testing and hopes of having a vaccine roll-out before Christmas as "two big boxing gloves with which to wallop our foe into submission".

Shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray criticised Mr Johnson's remarks as he defended devolution as "one of Labour's proudest achievements".

Johnson announced on Sunday that he had been told by the NHS Test & Trace scheme to self-isolate for two weeks after it was confirmed that a lawmaker, Lee Anderson, who attended a 35-minute meeting with him on Thursday, had tested positive.

In an attempt to defuse the row caused by Johnson's comments, the housing minister Robert Jenrick said it was not realistic to demand a second referendum.

The two men were not wearing face coverings and did not appear to be two metres apart in a photo taken at Downing Street which Mr Anderson posted on Facebook.

After being repeatedly asked if he wears a mask when visiting Downing Street, Mr Hancock finally replied "not always", adding that each workplace has its own Covid rules and that "the Covid-secure guidelines for that building don't require it at all times".

Johnson has repeatedly spoken about how the apparent brush with death this year changed his outlook.

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