BORIS Johnson’s former top adviser has claimed that senior SNP figures have “made quietly clear” to the UK Government that they do not want a referendum on independence to be held before 2024.

Dominic Cummings, who quit as the Prime Minister’s top adviser last year, has suggested Nicola Sturgeon “just wants to be boss up there and whinge” instead of being serious about holding a re-run of the 2014 vote on independence.