Tory leadership candidate Rishi Sunak has outlined plans to extend the UK Government’s operations into devolved areas if he is elected as the new leader of the Conservative Party.

Speaking ahead of a visit to Scotland, Mr Sunak also said he intends to reform the UK Government’s union unit, which was set up by Boris Johnson last year in an effort to avert the prospect of Scottish independence, and pledged to put an end to “the Whitehall mentality of devolve and forget”.

The reformed unit, the former chancellor said, will ensure “every single” government department operates UK-wide, despite key policy areas like education and health having been devolved to the governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Laying out his plans for Scotland if he were to become prime minister, Mr Sunak said his government would be the most active in Scotland in decades by sending ministers to there more regularly and claimed,

“Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP pose an existential threat to our cherished union”.

“Arguing that we should ignore them is dangerously complacent,”

“We can’t just bury our heads in the sand and pretend they aren’t there – we need to stop them in their tracks”.