The cost of living crisis and perilous state of the economy will take a temporary backseat to a more existential challenge in the contest to become the UK’s next prime minister: how to keep the country together.

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak head to Scotland on Tuesday to pitch themselves to the Scottish Conservatives at a time when tension between the governments in Edinburgh and London has escalated over Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s demand for another independence referendum. The party faithful will want to hear how both candidates plan to champion the unity of the UK and head off support for her nationalists.

Like outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Truss and Sunak will refuse to grant permission for a referendum, an issue that Sturgeon and her Scottish National Party are pursuing in the courts.

Want to see more SNP fails – Health Matters