The press and party activists on both sides of the aisle got very excitable last night after it emerged the PM had ‘snubbed’ the First Minister by turning down her pre-emptive invitation for a meeting during his visit to Scotland at the end of this week. Not quite the security protocol No. 10 would have had in mind…

Despite turning down Sturgeon’s offer, Boris has written to her saying he’s “keen to arrange an in-person meeting with you and the other First Ministers and Deputy First Minister”. He also notes “you have been meeting regularly with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Michael Gove, but I look forward to meeting with you soon”

Back in May the PM invited Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish leaders to such a meeting, to discuss the “shared challenges” facing the UK. It was called off however in response to a letter from Sturgeon and Drakeford accusing the proposed meeting of being no more than “PR exercise”, and “further detailed preparation” should be done in advance. A No. 10 spokesperson said it was disappointing the Scottish Government felt “the need to delay this meeting so they have more time to prepare”…

Boris now tells Sturgeon he understands “our officials have made good progress on the details of this since we last spoke.” Sturgeon was trying to bounce the PM into exactly the kind of unsubstantive PR stunt she accused him of setting up in May…

Read Boris’s letter in full: