JACOB Rees-Mogg joked about the relationship between Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon as he attempted to deflect from Boris Johnson’s claim that devolution had been a disaster. 

The comments came during questions in the Commons when the SNP's Tommy Sheppard asked the Tory to explain what the Prime Minister meant when he told a group of MPs on Monday that “that devolution north of the Border has been a disaster and that it was Tony Blair's biggest mistake?”

“Does he understand the insult this is to the Scottish public?” Sheppard asked. “The Prime Minister may claim that he is referring to the SNP Government, but that government only exists because the people of Scotland, have voted for it, not once, not twice, but three times. 

"So the truth is that the Prime Minister is attacking the democratic decision of the people. Donald Trump would indeed be proud. 

“Exposure of this level of disrespect from a British Prime Minister presents us with a grave constitutional problem. We need to have an urgent debate on devolution, not just as I have argued for the last six months, to review its efficacy in the light of Covid, but to clarify whether the British government respects its own constitution.

"In May the Scottish electorate will vote again. Now that the Prime Minister's contempt for devolution is clear, a great many will realise that the only way to protect the limited powers we have is to grasp the political power and capacity that comes with independence."

READ MORE: Boris Johnson's devolution comments show 'chasm' between Tories and Scotland

Rees-Mogg claimed the SNP’s time in government had been “a tragic record of failure”.

He said the schools, the economy, policing, and the NHS had all suffered under the governments of Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon. 

“The failure of devolution is the failure of the Scottish National Party,” he said. “And just to add to the fun of it, they're also mired in some discussion about who can remember who sent texts to whom, but it might be ungracious of me to delve into the inner workings of the relationship between very fishy Scottish figures.”

That was a reference to WhatsApp exchanges between Sturgeon and Salmond which are being discussed by the Holyrood inquiry into the Government’s botched investigation into harassment allegations.

Messages released yesterday show two requests over whether Salmond was available for phone calls, which Sturgeon previously said was "setting up a conversation" to discuss allegations Salmond behaved inappropriately towards female staff at Edinburgh Airport.

She first revealed the messages in an interview with Sky News last month, reading out the messages live on air after claims she had withheld communication relevant to the Holyrood committee's remit.

The First Minister acknowledged they contained an "oblique reference" to claims of inappropriate conduct by Salmond but the messages were "not a big revelation".

The partially redacted exchanges took place between November 5 2017 and April 22 2018.

Sturgeon asked: "Hi - when you free to speak this morning?"

A minute later, Salmond replied: "10am."

That evening, at 6.58pm, Sturgeon texts again with the message: "Any developments?"

Salmond does not respond.

On the following day, Sturgeon wrote: "You free for a word?"

There was no written reply once more.

Sturgeon again messaged on November 9 but that text and Salmond's first reply have been redacted due to falling outside the remit of the inquiry.

But Salmond sent a second message, which read: "Ps the other matter is done and dusted with source identified".

He then sent another message on November 10 but that too is redacted.

The final text of the exchange came from Salmond on April 22.

He wrote "it would be very helpful if I could call you on WhatsApp between 10.30am and 12", although the screenshot cuts off any remaining content of the message.

When challenged about the messages last month, Sturgeon said the claims were a diversionary tactic by her "annoyed" predecessor, whose lawyers were accusing her of holding back certain messages the pair exchanged.

She said: "I was setting up a conversation that I have told the parliamentary inquiry about, it's hardly a big revelation.

"Later that week, incidentally, I messaged him to say 'no wonder you didn't want to tell me'.

"That's just after I find out that he's agreed to host a regular show on Russia Today and it reflects my incredulity at that decision.

"I think his response to me then makes an oblique reference to the Sky News query so that may be what he's talking about."

Asked why Salmond would want these messages to be released to the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints, Sturgeon suggested the former first minister may want people to believe the allegations are "all a big conspiracy" to deflect from his conduct.

Sturgeon said: "I'm afraid that's not the case. Every day I've tried to do the right thing and not cover it up, and I think the reason perhaps he is angry with me - and he clearly is angry with me - is that I didn't cover it up.

"I didn't collude with him to make these allegations go away and perhaps that is at the root of why he is as annoyed as he appears to be."