Boris Johnson was met by a booing

crowd of Scottish independence supporters.

Mr Johnson has doubters across Scotland's political spectrum.

Many members of his own Scottish Conservative and Unionist party

fear that his unpopularity north of the border

and his apparent willingness to leave the EU without a deal

could prove disastrous for the unity of the United Kingdom.

Leaving the EU on any terms is unpopular in Scotland,

which in 2016 voted by 62 per cent to 38 per cent to Remain.

Nicola Sturgeon, first minister and leader

of the Scottish National party says that a no-deal Brexit

could plunge the country into recession

and cost 100,000 Scottish jobs.

That kind of economic damage, created by a leader

that many Scots see as an upper class Englishman

unsympathetic to their interests,

would be likely to boost support for Scottish independence.

Amid such worries, Ruth Davidson,

the Scottish Conservative leader,

has publicly set herself against Mr Johnson and no-deal,

saying that she could not support leaving

the EU without an agreement.

Ms Davidson and the new prime minister made a show of unity

during his visit, but the obvious differences

between them could be a major handicap

for the party in an early UK general election.

And any loss of the party's 13 Scottish seats

would make it much harder to win an overall UK majority

and would embolden the pro-independence S&P.

After his meeting with Ms Sturgeon,

Mr Johnson was able to avoid the booing crowds

by the highly unusual method of leaving the first minister's

official residence by the back door.

But the political and constitutional tensions

created by his Brexit policies could prove harder to escape.