First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has reacted angrily from the suggestion by Prime Minister Theresa May that she was using the Brexit stalemate at Westminster to push for Scottish independence.

Mrs May used as visit to Scotland yesterday to criticise the First Minister over the SNP Government’s analysis which they claimed showed the Brexit deal signed by the Prime Minister would cost Scots nearly £1600 each.

Theresa May tells Nicola Sturgeon: Stop exploiting Brexit for Scottish independe...

On the Scottish Government’s potential request for the powers to hold another independence referendum, Mrs May said: “Now is not the time to be thinking about this.

“One thing we do know is that what would be bad for the Scottish economy would be taking Scotland out of the United Kingdom.”

However, the First Minister hit back in a tweet last night, urging Mrs May to ‘take responsibility for her Brexit mess’ and accusing the Prime Minister of using independence to sidestep questions over her deal, which faces an uphill battle to be passed by MPs in Westminster.

Ms Sturgeon has become a vocal opponent of the deal, accusing the Prime Minister of selling out Scottish fishing interests and pushing for inclusion in a planned TV debate between Mrs May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Nicola Sturgeon hits back at Theresa May over independence criticism