PM: I'll Fight Every Day For Our 'Precious Union'

UK's values bind us all together'

- Sam Lister

RISHI Sunak has vowed to fight "every day" to stop Scotland breaking the "precious" United Kingdom.

The PM is to block new First Minister Humza Yousaf's independence poll bid, saying that while the SNP "will do their thing", he will battle to keep the UK together.

He added: "I am very clear that I passionately believe in our union...I care about our union, I think it is very precious.

"When my grandparents emigrated to this country they didn't come to England, they came to the United Kingdom - and that is because the UK represented a really powerful set of values.

"And ultimately it is those values that bind us all together.

"It is not geography. That idea that inspired my grandparents to emigrate here, the idea of what the United Kingdom stood for, what we were all about as a society, as a community...that is powerful, it is inspiring and I will fight very hard to protect it every day that I am in this job." The Daily Express is crusading to Unite The Kingdom following strains caused by the rise of nationalism in Scotland.

Mr Yousaf, 37, who was chosen by SNP members to succeed Nicola Sturgeon, said that a formal application for a fresh referendum will be made "right away".

He wants powers under Section 30 of the Scotland Act to allow the Scottish Parliament to legislate for a public vote on independence.

Downing Street has insisted that the UK Government's position of refusing the attempt to trigger another vote is "well established".

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said that Mr Sunak's administration is instead focused on the "issues that matter", such as the cost-of-living crisis.