Nicola Sturgeon has rejected claims she risks alienating Brexit-supporting SNP voters by adopting a pro-EU stance in the General Election.
The first minister claimed she was unconcerned her support of a confirmatory EU referendum and calling to stop Brexit entirely would cost the SNP support.
Ms Sturgeon spoke out on a day of campaigning in which she also failed to rule out doing a DUP-style “confidence and supply” deal with Jeremy Corbyn.
On the stump in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Ms Sturgeon was asked if the SNP would face a backlash from Scottish Brexit supporters.
“In politics, you have to decide what side of issues you’re on when it comes to big defining issues,” the SNP leader replied.
“You only have to look at Labour to see what happens to parties who try to straddle the fence and aren’t frank with people.”
Previous polls had suggested that around one third of SNP supporters were also in favour of EU withdrawal.
But earlier yesterday Ms Sturgeon had told Sky News that new analysis indicated the number of SNP Brexit supporters had fallen to around 10% to 12%.
“However people voted on Brexit, I think people believe that it’s a mess and chaotic,” Ms Sturgeon said.
“Most people I speak to – including the minority in Scotland that voted to leave – actually just want to escape the whole sorry saga.”
On Sky News, Ms Sturgeon was also pressed on whether she would be prepared to enter a confidence and supply deal with Labour in a hung parliament.
Ms Sturgeon answered: “Let’s see what the arithmetic is. There will be no formal coalition.”
When asked to rule out such a deal, the SNP leader said: “We will see what the circumstances are.
“I think we are more likely to end up in a situation where we have an issue by issue arrangement where we support on some things and don’t support on others.”
With speculation mounting the SNP could strike a post-election deal with Labour, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell reacted angrily to reports that the Nationalists were in talks with Westminster civil servants.
Mr McDonnell said: “If these reports are true then Nicola Sturgeon has been wasting her time. There will be no pacts or coalitions with the SNP.”
Meanwhile the SNP has complained to Sky News and Ofcom about the “deeply undemocratic” decision to exclude the party from a Sky General Election TV debate.
Ms Sturgeon said legal action on the issue had not been ruled out.
