PM to visit Scotland 'to plead for the UK'

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will visit Scotland this week to plead with Scots to reject narrow separatism after Scotland's first minister called for another independence referendum, The Sun Newspaper reports.

Scotland's Nicola Sturgeon said on Sunday she was hoping a strong performance by her Scottish National Party (SNP) in an election in May would give her the mandate to hold a second referendum.

"Johnson is set to visit Scotland this week as he launches an all-out bid to save the Union of the United Kingdom," The Sun said.

"He is expected to use the trip to make an impassioned plea for Scots to reject narrow separatism and hail the benefits of being in the UK."

Scotland voted against independence by 55 per cent to 45 per cent in a 2014 referendum.

But a majority of Scots also backed staying in the European Union in the subsequent 2016 Brexit vote, stoking demands by Scottish nationalists for a new independence vote after the UK as a whole voted to leave.