Scotland's ruling nationalists have called British Conservative frontrunner Liz Truss "obnoxious" after she accused their leader Nicola Sturgeon of being an "attention seeker" for demanding independence.
"I think the best thing to do with Nicola Sturgeon is ignore her," Ms Truss said late yesterday at a Tory hustings event in southwest England, drawing applause and cheers from party members present.
John Swinney, Ms Sturgeon's deputy as first minister of Scotland, called the foreign secretary's remarks "completely and utterly unacceptable".
"People in Scotland, whatever their politics, will be absolutely horrified by the obnoxious remarks that Liz Truss has made," he told BBC television.
"I think Liz Truss has, with one, silly, intemperate intervention, fundamentally undermined the argument she tries to put forward: that Scotland, somehow, can be fairly and well treated at the heart of the United Kingdom."
Ms Truss was speaking at the second of 12 hustings as Tory members decide between her and former finance minister Rishi Sunak as the successor to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The Scottish National Party (SNP) is pressing for a second referendum on independence for Scotland.
Asked if she would reverse Mr Johnson's opposition to that, Ms Truss replied: "No, no, no."
Reminded by the moderator that the SNP has a democratic mandate to govern Scotland, Ms Truss rather dismissed Ms Sturgeon as an "attention seeker".
The Conservative leadership candidate called herself a "child of the union", having attended primary school in Scotland.
"What we need to do is show the people of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales what we're delivering for them and making sure that all of our government policies apply right across the United Kingdom," Ms Truss added.
Mr Sunak has also ruled out another referendum, last week calling it "the wrong priority at the worst possible moment", after Scots voted narrowly in 2014 to stay in the UK.
The SNP, arguing that Brexit has transformed the debate, wants to hold a plebiscite on independence in October 2023.
The UK Supreme Court plans to hold hearings on 11-12 October this year on whether that would be legal without approval from the government in London.
