Nicola Sturgeon has urged Remainers to vote for the SNP in next week’s EU elections even if they are against Scottish independence.
The SNP leader claimed a vote for the SNP next Thursday was a vote to stop Brexit as argued that Westminster was “failing” the people.
Unveiling an EU election manifesto committed to “European values”, Ms Sturgeon said the possibility of Boris Johnson as prime minister propped up by Nigel Farage was now a “deadly serious possibility” that would be a “nightmare” for Scotland.
Ms Sturgeon added there was an obligation on the SNP to provide a “beacon of light and hope” ahead of voters going to the ballot box next week.
Speaking in Glasgow, Ms Sturgeon said there was “complete transparency” about the party’s position on Scottish independence when she called for pro-UK supporters to back her.
“The issue of Scottish independence will be decided in a referendum. That is the accepted position and that will be the case,” she added.
“The people who don’t support independence will have the opportunity to register that opinion when we come to make that choice again.
“This is about Scotland’s right to be heard, it’s about sending a message at this European election about Scotland’s aspirations to remain in the EU.”
She added: “The strongest way of sending that message is to vote SNP, whether you are for or against independence.”
But the SNP’s opponents warned pro-Union voters against backing the SNP next week.
Lib Dem campaign chairman Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “Every person who votes for the SNP at the European elections should know that their vote will be twisted by the SNP as support for independence.”
Ms Sturgeon made her plea despite her manifesto including a commitment to offer the choice for Scotland to become an independent European nation.
It also included commitments to work with other parties across the UK to “stop Brexit” and support for another EU referendum with Remain as an option.
Ms Sturgeon said: “Whatever people’s views on independence, or whether indeed people voted Remain or Leave, one thing is clear and beyond doubt: Westminster is failing all of us.
“On that I suspect almost everyone in Scotland would agree. So we have the opportunity to send a message to the Tories and to the other Westminster parties that the Brexit chaos has to stop.”
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson argued Scotland could have an economic boost if further referendums on independence and Brexit were ruled out.
Setting out her party’s economic strategy in Edinburgh, Ms Davidson said Scotland could profit from a “post-referendum bounce” after 2021 if constitutional uncertainty was set aside.
