Nicola Sturgeon: 'My advice to people in England? Come to Scotland'

Nicola Sturgeon has said her advice to people in England would be to move to Scotland as she opened up on independence and her frosty relationship with new Boris Johnson.

Nicola Sturgeon. Picture:PA

In a wide-ranging interview with the Guardian, the First Minister spoke about her viral encounter with the new Prime Minister, where he was confronted by protesters and appeared to try and usher her into Bute House.

In the interview, which took place last week before the publication of a bombshell new poll showing a majority of Scots now support independence, Ms Sturgeon accused Mr Johnson of 'entitlement' in talking 'a load of nonsense' about a no-deal Brexit, and accusing him of presiding over a Government that was more right-wing than that of Margaret Thatcher.

Challenged on her timetable for an independence referendum withing two years, and Westminster's rejection of her demands for the legal right to hold one, Ms Sturgeon said that she will 'set out how we intend to cross that bridge if we get there - we've got legislation going through the Scottish parliament that is necessary for a referendum on that timescale.'

Nicola Sturgeon. Picture:PA

The SNP leader described her meeting with new Prime Minister Mr Johnson as 'surreal' as she characterised his approach to no-deal Brexit as breezy and said he simply waved his hands and assured her everything would be fine.

The First Minister spoke yesterday on her 'pain and anguish' over the cooling in her relationship with her predecessor and mentor Alex Salmond, who took the Scottish Government to court over their handling of complaints against him.

Ms Sturgeon told Iain Dale at the Edinburgh Festival: “Just think about how you would feel, anybody in any walk of life, when somebody has been a really important dominant person in your life.

“In my case with Alex for 30 years and suddenly, for whatever reason, that relationship is different and you’re not able to have that same relationship.

“Is there a degree of personal pain and anguish in that? Of course there is.”

On her call for English people to move north of the border, Ms Sturgeon told the Guardian that she wasn't joking.

She said: “(I'm) more than half-serious. We need more people in Scotland. Absolutely: move to Scotland.”