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Prime Minister Boris Johnson will urge Scots to turn away from independence on a visit today. According to a recent report by The Independent, on his first trip to Scotland since coronavirus struck, Mr Johnson will argue “the sheer might of our Union” has brought people through the pandemic, by saving lives and propping up jobs. However, the visit comes as polls now suggest the independence campaign has stolen a lead of up to 10 percent, as the Covid-19 crisis took hold.

The SNP is on course to win an unprecedented majority at next year’s Scottish Parliament elections – fuelling demands for a second referendum.

And it is Mr Johnson’s handling of the pandemic which has apparently cost him support.

Keith Brown, the SNP’s deputy leader, said: “The only reason Boris Johnson is coming here is because he is in full-blown panic mode amid rising support for independence.”

As uncertainty over the future of the union continues, unearthed reports shed light on the 2014 Scottish independence referendum campaign.

According to a throwback report by The Telegraph, in 2013, former SNP leader Alex Salmond spent almost £20,000 of taxpayer’s money attempting to hide legal advice on an independent Scotland’s membership of the EU — knowing all the while that the advice did not exist.

Scottish ministers reportedly published figures showing they spent £19,452.92 going to court to appeal a ruling by the Freedom of Information (FOI) Commissioner that they had to disclose whether they had sought advice from their law officers on the issue.

Ms Sturgeon, the then-Deputy First Minister, had announced the case had been dropped because “no specific legal advice” existed, but it was not previously known how much public cash had been wasted.

The row was particularly damaging for the pro-independence campaign as Mr Salmond had previously suggested in a television interview that he had received advice from Scottish Government law officers.

At the time, SNP ministers were repeatedly claiming a separate Scotland would have automatically inherited the UK’s EU membership.

However, they have since admitted it would not.

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Drew Smith, the former Scottish Labour constitution spokesman, said: “It’s outrageous that the SNP has used public funds in an attempt to hide the truth ahead of the referendum.

“They’re increasingly fond of using public funds for their own vanity projects, from trips to the golf, tartan trews and now to deceive on the constitution.”

John Lamont, the former Scottish Tories’ Chief Whip, added at the time: “Now, we finally know that £20,000 of taxpayers’ cash was wasted on the SNP’s folly of going to court to try and hide information that never even existed.

“Yet, we still have no idea of the content of the SNP’s legal advice on a separate Scotland’s membership of the EU.

“We are also in the dark on what meetings, if any, the Scottish government has had with the EU and other bodies, since Nicola Sturgeon’s promised meeting with EC President Jose Manuel Barroso never happened.

“The SNP have raised the bar high by saying that all the facts on independence will be revealed in the White Paper. However, if they fail to tell voters what their legal basis is for an independent Scotland being part of the EU, it could result in yet another expensive court case.”

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The row originated with a FOI request by Catherine Stihler, a former Labour MEP, who asked ministers in 2011 about the legal advice they held on a separate Scotland’s EU status.

During an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Neil in 2013 Mr Salmond appeared to confirm that he had sought advice from his law officers on this issue, saying: “We have, yes, in terms of the debate.”

But in July 2012, the Scottish Government announced it was appealing a ruling by the FOI commissioner that it disclosed whether or not advice had been sought.

Ministers used taxpayers’ money to take the case to the Court of Session but dropped their action that year after admitting the advice did not exist.

According to a parliamentary answer published by Ms Sturgeon, the Scottish Government’s legal costs totalled £3,960 and law accountant fees were £1,680.

Moreover, Scottish ministers agreed to pay the Information Commissioner’s fees of £13,812.92.

Mr Salmond had previously spent more than £103,000 going to the Court of Session twice to prevent this newspaper seeing details of the SNP’s local income tax plans.

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