Nigel Farage has admitted he intends to exploit anti-UK sentiment in a bid to convince Scots to back Brexit.
In an interview with the Press and Journal, the UKIP leader said he hoped to harness hardcore SNP supporters in his campaign to leave the EU.
Mr Farage, who was in Edinburgh launching UKIP Scotland’s manifesto, also said he believed a second referendum on the future of the UK would be “great fun” because nationalists “won’t even get a chance of winning”.
UKIP Scotland hope to win their first seats in Holyrood in the May 5 ballot, building on the surprise election of their first MEP north of the border, David Coburn, in 2014.
Mr Coburn is number one on the party’s list for the Highlands and Islands and will resign his seat in Brussels if elected.
When asked by the Press and Journal if he would look to appeal to Independence supporters who might be inclined to vote tactically to leave the EU in order to force another referendum on the future of the Union, Mr Farage said: “Yes, absolutely.
“We will win our one and they won’t even get a chance of winning their one.
“I think it would be great fun because the margin would be huge this time with oil at $35 a barrel.
“Forget it, it’s just nonsense, I mean, come on.”
Mr Farage – who also attended a pro-Brexit event in Glasgow last night – said he hoped a successful showing in the Holyrood elections would be a launch pad for building anti-EU feeling in Scotland, where polling has consistently shown majority support in Brussels’ favour.
He said: “What I want to do is explode the myth that Scotland is a hugely Europhile country. If you look at all the social attitude surveys, actually, it’s not.
“Immigration is fascinating. Nobody in Holyrood wants to talk about it. If you actually ask Scottish people about it they are just as concerned about it – or very close – as the rest of the UK.
“The word independence belongs to UKIP and not the SNP – that is something we are going to campaign on.”
Some polls have suggested Mr Farage’s party could win as many as half a dozen seats in the Scottish Parliament.
UKIP’s manifesto for Scotland includes a wide-range of pledges, including commitments to set Scottish tax rates the same or lower compared to the rest of the UK.
The party has also promised to raise the drink drive limit back to 80mg per 100ml of blood and introduce smoking rooms in pubs.
A source within Scotland Stronger In Europe, the pro-EU campaign north of the border, dismissed Mr Farage’s comments.
The source said: “Mr Farage’s position is nonsensical – the first minister’s point about a Brexit precipitating another independence referendum is entirely based on Scotland voting to stay in Europe but getting dragged out by the UK-wide result.
“By definition, if people in Scotland vote to leave, the case for an independence referendum is non-existent.”