Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader Willie Rennie today branded Nicola Sturgeon an “ideological obsessive” as he dubbed her remarks on independence a “triple insult” to the north-east.
The first minister was also slapped down by Downing Street over her intervention on the second anniversary of the 2014 referendum.
And former chancellor Alistair Darling said she was simply “throwing red meat” to her supporters and actually in no hurry to call another poll.
The leader of the Better Together campaign insisted she would not be willing to “risk everything” and knows she would be “finished” if she lost.
In an emotional message over the weekend, the SNP leader said the case for full self-government “ultimately transcends the issues of Brexit, of oil, of national wealth and balance sheets and of passing political fads and trends”.
Yesterday, Mr Rennie told the Press and Journal: “She’s saying to the north-east we have given up trying to do all we can to get the oil industry back on its feet.
“It’s a triple insult. She doesn’t value the public services funded from oil, she doesn’t value the jobs that come from the oil industry and she doesn’t value a fact-based campaign to secure their future.”
A Downing Street spokesman added: “I’m not sure you would describe Brexit, oil and the economy as ‘passing fads’. These are fundamental issues about what Britain is and what it is dealing with.”
Mr Rennie said Ms Sturgeon had shown a “reckless disregard for jobs and public services in the pursuit of an ideological obsession”.
He added: “Rather than the pragmatic, sensible, mainstream politician she would like to portray herself as, she is an ideological obsessive who is prepared to secure independence at all costs.”
He described a “helter-skelter ride” over the summer as the first minister had tried to satisfy both party members and the wider public with “contradictory” approaches.
She had “overcooked” her position, he said, adding: “She is now heading down a path that she can’t control.”
The north-east Fife MSP also hit out at former first minister Alex Salmond for “interfering at every possible opportunity”.
He said: “You have got an unhelpful former leader who is like an overgrown child, a man child, where he just can’t control his excitement.
“He thinks he can do a better job than anybody else. But all he is doing is making a fool of himself.”
An SNP spokesman attacked Mr Rennie’s comments as “laughable”, adding: “They show the utter lack of vision and ideas from the Lib Dems on how to move Scotland forward – and go pretty far in explaining why his party slumped to fifth place at Holyrood in May’s elections.”
